New Delhi: Fresh political trouble hit the ruling Congress party in Rajasthan with state minister Ashok Chandna Monday attacking Sachin Pilot after shoes were hurled at him allegedly by the supporters of the former deputy chief minister at an event in Pushkar.
Chandna and leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and BJP state president Satish Poonia, were present at the event to mark the immersion of ashes of Kirori Singh Bainsla, a Gurjar leader who spearheaded agitations in Rajasthan for 5 per cent reservation of the community under the Most Backward Classes (MBCs) category in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.
The 9th Schedule contains 284 central and state laws that are exempt from judicial review. The Gurjar community has been demanding that the Rajasthan government should ensure that 5 per cent reservations for MBCs be included in the 9th Schedule.
As per reports, when Chandna and fellow cabinet minister Shakuntala Rawat took to the dais to speak, shoes were hurled at them by a group of people who shouted slogans of ‘Sachin Pilot Zindabad’. However, neither of them were hit by the shoes and suffered no injuries.
While Pilot was not present at the event, both he and Chandna are from the Gurjar community.
Later, Chandna tweeted an aggressive message saying that “only one will be left” if he starts fighting. “If Sachin Pilot becomes the chief minister by throwing a shoe at me, then he should be made soon because today I do not feel like fighting. The day I come to fight, then only one will be left and I do not want this [sic],” he tweeted.
मुझ पर जूता फकवाकर सचिन पायलट यदि मुख्यमंत्री बने तो जल्दी से बन जाए क्योंकि आज मेरा लड़ने का मन नहीं है।
जिस दिन मैं लड़ने पर आ गया तो फिर एक ही बचेगा और यह मैं चाहता नहीं हूँ।
— Ashok Chandna (@AshokChandnaINC) September 12, 2022
Chandna, who holds multiple portfolios including sports and youth affairs, was in the news in May when he requested Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to relieve him from his “humiliating posts” and hand them all to Principal Secretary Kuldeep Ranka. Indicating that he was upset with Ranka’s involvement in the functioning of the government, the Hindoli MLA had sarcastically said that the IAS officer “is anyway minister of all departments”.
At the time, Gehlot had dismissed the message, saying that Chandna must have been “tense” when he made the statement. This time, the Rajasthan minister has trained his guns on Gehlot’s adversary Sachin Pilot.
ThePrint reached out to Pilot and Chandna via calls and WhatsApp messages for comment, but a response was not received at the time of publishing this article.
Also Read: 3 states, thrice the trouble: Why Congress struggles won’t end in Punjab, Haryana & Rajasthan
Rival camps in the party
The Congress in Rajasthan is at a precarious juncture with a long-standing factional feud between Gehlot and Pilot embarrassing the party from time to time. This was even after the Congress top brass in July 2020 removed Pilot from the post of deputy chief minister and Rajasthan unit president following a revolt against Gehlot.
In November last year, five loyalists of Pilot were accommodated in the Rajasthan cabinet expansion which was postponed several times due to the infighting between the two rival camps.
The National Student Union of India’s poor show in Rajasthan last month was also attributed largely to the tussle between Gehlot and Pilot.
At present, the speculation of Gehlot vacating his CM seat to contest the Congress presidential poll has also created turmoil in the Rajasthan unit. Gehlot has been at loggerheads with Pilot about who takes over as the chief minister if and when he vacates. Both leaders are keen on having someone from their camp take the chair. It has been reported that Pilot is negotiating to keep the CM’s chair for himself.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Punjab managed, Congress turns to Rajasthan to resolve Sachin Pilot-Ashok Gehlot row