Mallikarjun Kharge To Meet Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot Today

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to meet Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his rival Sachin Pilot separately on Monday, in a bid to broker peace between the two leaders ahead of assembly elections in Rajasthan.

"Let Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot come to Delhi. We will discuss and decide whatever is in the interest of the party," Kharge told reporters ahead of the meeting.

The much-awaited meeting comes amid Pilot's ultimatum that if three demands he made from the Rajasthan government were not met by the end of this month, he would launch a state-wide agitation.

Pilot has demanded 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 the primary demands.

Mallikarjun Kharge would meet Gehlot and Pilot separately to bring them on one platform ahead of the crucial assembly election, to be held later this year.

Meanwhile, Ashok Gehlot on Sunday launched a veiled attack on his former deputy Sachin Pilot, saying his demand for compensation to candidates affected by an exam paper leak reflects intellectual bankruptcy.

The chief minister also alleged that the Opposition has started talking about the paper leak as it does not have any valid reason to target the Congress government in Rajasthan.

Notably, Kharge was successful in placating the differences between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar. The Congress now wants to try the same formula in Rajasthan.