Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot agree to fight Rajasthan elections unitedly in a crucial Congress meeting

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot agreed to fight the high-stakes state Assembly polls unitedly in a crucial Congress meeting at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi on Monday.

The meeting was called to resolve the infighting in the Rajasthan Congress months ahead of the polls.

The crucial meeting, that lasted for over four hours, was attended by Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and party leader from Rajasthan Jitendra Singh.

"We have decided to fight elections unitedly. Definitely, we will win the elections in Rajasthan. Both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have unanimously agreed with the proposal," KC Venugopal said after the meeting.

The meeting came 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. He had defied a warning from the party and went ahead with a day-long fast targeting Gehlot over his "inaction" on alleged corruption during the previous BJP-led government.

Gehlot and Pilot have been engaged in a power tussle since Congress formed government in the state in 2018. In 2020, Pilot led a failed revolt against the Gehlot government, after which he was removed from the posts of party's state unit president and deputy chief minister.

Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are holding parleys with leaders of poll-bound states in order to evolve the party strategy for the Assembly elections.