"Small differences" keep happening in Congress like "all parties": Gehlot

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday downplayed his rift with Sachin Pilot and said "small differences" keep happening in Congress like "all parties".

"There are no differences...Small differences keep happening in our party, it happens with all parties in every state. But we'll contest elections together, win and form the government," ANI quoted Gehlot as saying. He stated that the party will continue the tradition of accepting the decisions of the party High Command. "We contest elections together, win them together and then we accept the decisions of the High Command. This has been the tradition and this will continue to be the tradition," the Chief Minister said.

Notably, in November last year, displaying a show of unity in Rajasthan Congress, General Secretary KC Venugopal reiterated Rahul Gandhi's statement describing both Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot as "assets to the party", while trying to send a message that party is supreme and the state leaders are united to win the 2023 Assembly elections. As the rivals stood next to each other holding hands to present the optics days after Ashok Gehlot called Sachin Pilot a traitor, the party sought to send out a message of resolving the ongoing crisis.
"We are united. Here Ashok Ji and Sachin Pilot Ji have said that the Congress party in Rajasthan is united. Rahul Gandhi has clearly stated that both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are assets to the party," Venugopal had said.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had said that the message of the top leadership in Congress goes to the grassroots prompting the leaders to work together. "Rahul Gandhi said yesterday that Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are assets to the party. It is a speciality of our party that when the message comes from the leader, it goes down till the bottom and we work together for the betterment of the party," Gehlot had said.

Acknowledging the challenge of the 2023 Assembly elections in Rajasthan, the Chief Minister said that it is essential for the party to win elections, adding that the DNA of Congress and the country is same.

"We have the challenge of the 2023 Assembly elections in Rajasthan. It is essential for us to win the elections, it is for the country's welfare. If Congress is strong, only then the future of the country will be strong because the challenge that is before the country for which Indira Gandhi gave up her life, and Rajiv Gandhi was killed attempting to establish peace. Congress and the country have one DNA," Gehlot added.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.

With inputs from ANI