Rajasthan: Gehlot, Pilot put up united face ahead of Assembly bypolls

Jaipur, Feb 27: Ahead of the bypolls on four Assembly seats, the ruling Congress in Rajasthan put up a united face with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot addressing two farmers’ mahapanchayats on Saturday.

It was in July last year that Pilot had revolted against Gehlot, resulting in a political crisis in the state.

The month-long crisis had ended after the intervention of party leader Rahul Gandhi. Gehlot and Pilot, along with AICC general secretary Ajay Maken and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, flew in a helicopter from Jaipur and addressed the rallies in Bikaner’s Dungargarh and Chittorgarh’s Matrakundiya.

Both leaders were seen together during Rahul Gandhi's two-day visit to Rajasthan recently. Maken and Dotasra also shared the photo of all the four sitting in a chopper on Twitter.

With the “mahapanchayats” on Saturday, the Congress launched the party's campaign for bypolls to Sujangarh (Churu), Sahada (Bhilwara), Vallabhnagar (Udaipur) and Rajsamand assembly seats. While the Dungargarh rally was close to the Sujangarh constituency, the rally in Matrikundiya was near the rest of the three constituencies.