Pilot warns Congress to not take Gehlot's praises for PM Modi 'lightly'

New Delhi, Nov 02: A day after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that whenever he goes abroad, he receives great honour, Sachin Pilot has urged the party leadership not to take the development "lightly".

"...I find the heaps of praises by PM Modi (on CM Gehlot y'day)very interesting. PM had similarly praised GN Azad in Parliament. We saw what happened after that. It was an interesting development y'day. Shouldn't be taken lightly...," ANI quoted Pilot in a Tweet.

He has also demanded punishment for the leaders who rebelled against the party in September. "As far as Raj is concerned, a CLP meet called on 25 Sept couldn't be held. AICC considered it a matter of indiscipline...Rules same for all. So, if indiscipline occurred&replies were given,action should be taken.I believe party chief Kharge will take a decision soon," he added.

Speaking at a public function at Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan's Banswara, Gehlot on Tuesday said India has scripted history in the world as democracy is alive in the country even after more than 70 years since it achieved independence. "When Modi goes abroad, he gets so much respect. He gets the respect because he is the prime minister of the country of Gandhi, where the roots of democracy run deep and where, even after more than 70 years of independence, democracy is alive," he said.

PM Modi and Gehlot were at an event to honour the members of the tribal community members who were killed by the British in 1913.

On his turn, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Ashok ji (Gehlot) and I had worked together as chief ministers. He was the most senior in our lot. Ashok ji is still one of the senior-most CMs among those who are sitting on the stage right now," he said.

Last month, the supporters of Ashok Gehlot had refused to attend the CLP meeting after the central leadership asked him to resign from the post of Chief Minister to contest the party president post.

The unexpected turn of events in Rajasthan Congress caused huge embarrassment to the party when Rahul Gandhi had started his ambitious 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

It may be recalled that Pilot too had put the party in trouble in 2020 when he rebelled against Gehlot with 30 MLAs.