On a day senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot embarked on his "Jan Sangharsh Yatra", the Congress on Thursday tweeted a video clip of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot acting on the demands of a group of students and called him a "jan jan ke mukhyamantri (people's chief minister)".
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister and Gehlot's bete noire, Pilot, embarked on his "Jan Sangharsh Yatra" from Ajmer, mounting pressure on Gehlot and the Congress' central leadership in the run-up to the assembly polls later this year.
In a tweet, the Congress posted a video in which a group of students came up to Gehlot during his recent visit to Udaipur and demanded that education at the Masters level be provided in their college.
It is narrated in the video that Gehlot immediately acted on their demand and issued directives that all steps be taken to ensure that Masters level education is provided at the college. The Congress shared the video along with the words "jan jan ke mukhyamantri".
In another tweet, the Congress posted another clip of Gehlot addressing people and alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not respect the Opposition and talks about a "Congress-mukt India".
The Congress had shared the same video on Gehlot's interaction with the students on May 9 as well. Interestingly, that day Pilot had announced his "Jan Sangharsh Yatra" and remarked that a recent speech of Gehlot indicated his real leader is BJP's Vasundhara Raje and not Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress has been largely tight-lipped about Pilot's yatra, though the party's media department chairperson, Pawan Khera, on Wednesday dismissed as a "joke" and "laughable" Pilot's remark. Last month, Pilot had held a day-long fast, flagging the "inaction" of the Gehlot government in alleged cases of corruption when the BJP ran the state.
Before starting the 125-km-long five-day yatra on Thursday, Pilot addressed a public gathering on the Jaipur Highway in Ajmer and raised the issue of question papers for recruitment in different government posts being leaked. Gehlot and Pilot have been at loggerheads publicly for more than two years. In 2020, Pilot had led a rebellion in the party for a change of leadership in the state. However, Gehlot managed to survive and Pilot and some of his loyalists were later ousted from the state cabinet.
The chief minister, while addressing a public programme in Dholpur on Sunday, had claimed that he survived a revolt in 2020 by some Congress MLAs because BJP leaders Vasundhara Raje and Kailash Meghwal refused to support a conspiracy to topple an elected government through money power.
A couple of days later, Pilot targeted Gehlot over his comments, saying it appeared that the veteran Congressman's leader was Vasundhara Raje and not Sonia Gandhi. He had also rejected the charge that the dissidents - whom he had led -- took any money from the BJP.
