Rajasthan crisis: Sachin Pilot, his loyalists likely to skip second CLP meeting today, say Reports

Jaipur, July 14: Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and his loyalists are unlikely to attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting on Tuesday.

Notably, the grand old party has convened a second meeting with its legislators to end the ongoing power tussle between CM Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM Sachin Pilot. The meeting will be held at a hotel on the Delhi highway near Jaipur where the party MLAs are currently lodged.

''We are giving a second chance to Sachin Pilot,asked him to attend today's CLP meet.I hope today all MLAs come & give solidarity to leadership & for which ppl of Rajasthan voted, we all want to work for development of state: Rajasthan Congress in-charge Avinash Pande said.

Pilot has been upset since he was denied the Rajasthan chief minister's post after the December 2018 assembly elections.

On Sunday, he claimed to have the backing of 30 Congress MLAs and "some independents". Those close to him disputed Gehlot's claim that his government had a majority, and said this is proven in the assembly and not at the CM's house. Sources close to him have also ruled out the possibility of Pilot joining the BJP.

In the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress has 107 MLAs and the BJP 72. In the past, the ruling party has claimed the support of 13 independents, two MLAs each from the CPM and the Bharatiya Tribal Party, and one from the Rashtriya Lok Dal.