Pilot following Scindia's footsteps, claims Gehlot govt in minority

Jaipur:Amid the ruckus in the ruling Congress in Rajasthan, Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Sunday claimed support of 30 MLAs and said the government, led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, is now reduced to minority.

However, Congress leaders on Mr Gehlot's side, debunked the claims made by Mr Pilot and said that he should mention the names of those MLAs, who were supporting him.

Sources said that Mr Pilot would skip the Congress Legislative Party meeting on Monday. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has started efforts to get the Congress MLAs in his favour, while three independent MLAs have also spoken of supporting Mr Gehlot.

Congress Observors Randeep Surjewala and Avinash Pandey have also reached Jaipur. Mr Pandey denied having knowledge of Mr Pilot's claim of the Gehlot government being in minority. 

The Congress MLAs have started arriving at the Chief Minister's residence. On the other hand, many senior Congress leaders are trying to save the government.

Sources in the Congress have claimed that all the MLAs are in support of Mr Gehlot and the government is completely safe. Ajay Maken has also reached Jaipur. 

Sad to see Sachin Pilot sidelined by Ashok Gehlot, tweets Jyotiraditya Scindia

New Delhi: Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP after leaving the Congress-- his party for 17-long years -- said on Sunday that it was sad to see his erstwhile colleague Sachin Pilot too being sidelined in the party.

"Sad to see my erstwhile colleague Sachin Pilot too, being sidelined and persecuted by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Shows that talent and capability find little credence in the Congress," Mr Scindia tweeted.

Mr Scindia joined the BJP in March after resigning from the Congress and 21 MLAs followed suit and tendered their resignation, forcing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government to collapse.

The Congress government in Rajasthan 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 destabilising 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.

He was summoned by the SOG 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.(UNI)