Congress general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of dissident leader Sachin Pilot floating a new party. Randhawa, who reached Jaipur in the evening, also said that the party will assign responsibilities to Rajasthan leaders according to their stature.
“I am hearing this from you, I think there is no such thing. He (Pilot) did not have this in his mind before and does not have it now,” he told reporters when asked about speculations of the formation of a new party by Pilot. Randhawa also said it is the media which is raising the issue.
He reiterated that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had recently talked to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in Delhi in which both the Rajasthan leaders "agreed to work unitedly".
“Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi listened to both of them carefully and both were told that they are the assets of the Congress... Both said that they will work together,” he said. Randhawa said that 90 per cent of the matter was resolved and the rest was also not an issue.
When asked about the "formula" to broker peace between Gehlot and Pilot, Randhawa said he will not share it with the media. However, he said that both Gehlot and Pilot know about the formula. On the party's plan to give responsibility to Pilot, Randhawa said, “We will definitely do it for everyone and will decide the responsibility of leaders according to their stature,” he added.
Gehlot and his former deputy Pilot have been engaged in a power tussle since the Congress formed government in Rajasthan in 2018 and the party is seeking to broker peace between the two ahead of the assembly elections in the state, slated for later this year. There is intense speculation that Pilot may give a clear indication on his way forward on June 11 when he marks his father's death anniversary in Dausa.
