In 2020, Pilot, who served as deputy chief minister under Gehlot, revolted against the leadership, resulting in a month-long political deadlock until the intervention of the party’s high command.
In September 2022, a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party was held in Jaipur to address state leadership should Gehlot be elected as the Congress president. However, MLAs loyal to him did not attend and expressed opposition to any initiative to appoint Pilot as chief minister.
Gehlot stated on Sunday that the events of September 25 were not a revolt against the party high command but rather a disagreement among MLAs regarding Pilot’s potential promotion to chief minister. He mentioned feeling regret in front of Sonia Gandhi for not being able to secure a resolution during the CLP meeting, even though he was in line to become the Congress president.
The former chief minister has consistently accused the BJP of orchestrating the conspiracy to bring down his government with the help of certain party MLAs.
Sharma, who served as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Gehlot at the time, asserted during a press conference in Jaipur that if Gehlot truly believed there was a BJP conspiracy, then there should have been consequences for those implicated.
Regarding the reconciliation efforts with dissenting legislators in 2020, Sharma questioned why Gehlot and his supporters did not take issue when signs indicated that the rebel MLAs were rejoining the party.
He noted that the Congress had sent observers to Jaipur amidst discussions about leadership changes as Gehlot was viewed as a frontrunner for the Congress president position in 2022.
“Gehlot was informed beforehand about the observers’ arrival but opted not to raise any concerns with the Congress leadership. Instead, there were attempts to showcase dissatisfaction among MLAs in Jaipur and pressure the party high command,” he claimed.
Sharma remarked that Congress MLAs gathered at Shanti Dhariwal’s residence, rather than at the Chief Minister’s residence, and were later directed to then-Speaker C P Joshi’s residence to submit resignations against any effort to make Pilot chief minister.
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He claimed that this maneuver aimed to obstruct observers from conducting individual consultations with the legislators.
Sharma dismissed Gehlot’s assertion of being a victim of conspiracy, stating that the Congress leadership intended for him to assume the role of the party’s national president.
“No conspiracy was directed against him. The Congress leadership supported his candidacy for national president, making it inaccurate to frame them as conspirators,” Sharma concluded.
