Sachin Pilot turns down second invite from Congress to attend meet

New Delhi, July 13: Sachin Pilot and his supporters are unlikely to attend the Congress Legislative Party meeting scheduled on Tuesday amid a turf war with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Reportedly, Pilot's close associates say he will not attend the CLP meet, signalling a hardening of stance.

"To discuss the political situation another Congress Legislative Party (CLP) will meet at 10 am tomorrow. We request Sachin Pilot and all MLAs to come. We've requested them to come and discuss the situation," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, according to ANI.

In the 200-member 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.

The Congress had rushed Pande, Surjewala and Ajay Maken to Jaipur as observers at the meeting, amid a power tussle between its two Rajasthan leaders.

The party had issued a whip ahead of the CLP meeting, indicating disciplinary action against any MLA who failed to turn up. Pilot, however, had made clear in a statement that he would not attend the meeting.

He also claimed that he had the support of over 30 Congress MLAs and some independents. The current crisis began Friday night when the Rajasthan Police sent a notice to Pilot, asking him to record his statement over an alleged attempt to bring down the government.

The same notice was sent to the Chief Minister and some other MLAs, but Pilot's supporters claimed that it was only meant to humiliate him.