Sachin Pilot in Delhi to meet top leadership

New Delhi, (#thestates.news)  The Congress government in Rajasthan on Sunday appeared to be in a crisis with party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot reaching Delhi to meet the Congress top leadership over the summons for questioning by the Special Operations Group over allegations of destabilising the state government, sources said.
They said that Mr Pilot has expressed resentment over summons for questioning by the Special Operations Group over allegations of destabilizing the government and has reached Delhi with some of his loyalist MLAs to raise the matter with the Congress high command.
The Special Operations Group sent a letter to Sachin Pilot asking him to appear for questioning in an investigation into the horse-trading ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.
Mr Pilot was summoned by the Special Operations Group on Friday over the complaint filed ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections by Rajasthan Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi.
Sources said that the supporters of Mr Pilot are angry over the summons to the Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister.
MLAs from the Pilot camp allege that they are being deliberately targeted, hence a notice has been given by SOG.
Speaking on the issue, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that he and several other Congress leaders have been given notice by the Special Operations Group  of the state police for making only general statements on the issue of horse trading.
‘Notices have come to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Whip and some other ministers and MLAs for making general statements in the context of the complaint of horse trading by BJP leaders to the Congress Legislature Party. It is not appropriate for some media channels to present it differently,’ Gehlot said in a tweet.
On his part, Gehlot has charged the BJP of trying to destabilise the Congress government in Rajasthan.
On Saturday, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had addressed a press conference and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of offering crores to the Congress MLAs to switch allegiances and topple the Congress-led government in Rajasthan.
Gehlot had accused three senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Gulab Chand Kataria, BJP State President Satish Poonia and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Rajendra Rathore of trying to topple the state government.
Taking a dig at the BJP’s central leadership, he said that they are working to topple the Congress governments in various states.
‘Earlier, they did not have a majority in Maharashtra but still the BJP tried to form a government. Similarly, in Arunachal Pradesh despite the Congress majority, the Congress was not allowed to form its own government. In Madhya Pradesh, the government was overthrown by managing a change of party by senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. BJP is killing democracy by doing politics of caste and religion,’ Gehlot said.
Reacting to the developments, senior party leader Kapil Sibal said he is worried for the party. Referring to the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan, Kapil Sibal sought a quick resolution of the “crisis” and asked if the Congress will “wake up” when it would be too late.
In a tweet, Congress leader Kapil Sibbal said, “Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables?”
The Congress has 107 seats in the 200-strong Rajasthan Assembly and has support from 12 independent candidates. In addition, five MLAs from other parties — the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the CPM and the Bharatiya Tribal Party – support Mr Gehlot.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Kamal Nath government had collapsed in March after Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP with 22 MLAs.(uni)(mediasaheb.com)