Rajasthan Assembly Polls: Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot agree to fight polls ‘unitedly’

Rajasthan Assembly Polls: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot have agreed to fight the upcoming crucial assembly polls together, Congress leader and spokesperson KC Venugopal informed on Monday. The development comes after both Congress leaders were summoned to All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence. 

The meeting was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as well. 

Amid speculations ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Rajasthan, Congress aims to strengthen their party's ‘unity’ attempting to emerge victorious like in Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka. 

The Congress will take on Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, thereby regional unity at this juncture stands as an imminent necessity. 

Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal said in view of the upcoming Rajasthan assembly election, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had a detailed four-hour-long discussion with Ashok Gehlot.

Sachin Pilot, who has been attacking the Gehlot government over the issue of inaction on corruption during the previous BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje, joined the meeting after two hours at Kharge's residence.

"In this discussion, we have decided to fight the election unitedly. Both are in agreement that the Congress party has to go together and definitely we will win the election in Rajasthan," he told reporters after the meeting.

"It is very clear that Rajasthan is going to be a strong state for the Congress party. We are going to win. Therefore, both the leaders Gehlot ji and Sachin ji have decided to go together. The Congress party will fight elections unitedly," Venugopal also said.

The AICC general secretary, organisation, said both the leaders have left all issues relating to Rajasthan to be resolved by the party's high command.

Kharge and Gandhi are holding parleys with leaders of poll-bound states in order to evolve the party strategy for the assembly elections to corner the BJP in these states.

The party leadership is also working hard to resolve the infighting in the Rajasthan unit ahead of assembly polls and set at rest the differences between the two leaders.

The meeting comes close on the heels of Pilot's "ultimatum" that if three demands he made from the state government were not met by the end of this month, he would launch a state-wide agitation. Pilot has asked for a high-level inquiry into the alleged scams that took place during the tenure of the former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje government, as one of his demands.