Cong sacks Pilot as Deputy CM, party’s Rajasthan unit chief

Cracking the whip on the rebel party leader, the party also removed his loyalists Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena from the State cabinet. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Governor Kalraj Mishra immediately after the Congress Legislature Party meeting where the decision to remove the three ministers was taken. Sources said Gehlot briefed the Governor on recent developments in the State, caught in the grip of a power struggle between him and Pilot.

Soon after his removal, Pilot tweeted in Hindi, “Truth can be rattled, not defeated”. He also changed his profile on Twitter deleting all references to his position as deputy CM and Rajasthan Congress chief. He only described himself as MLA of Tonk and a former Minister of IT, Telecom & Corporate affairs, Government of India.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara will be the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief.

He said Sachin Pilot enjoyed the affection and blessings of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and was given political power at a young age. Yet, he and other ministers were trying to topple the state government as part of a BJP conspiracy, he said after the Congress Legislature Party meeting at a hotel on the Delhi highway here. “It cannot be acceptable to any political party. Therefore, the Congress took the decisions with a heavy heart,” he said announcing the removal of Sachin Pilot, Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena from the state cabinet. Surjewala said Govind Singh Dotasara, who is an experienced OBC leader and the son of a farmer, has been made the new state Congress chief. Tribal leader and MLA Ganesh Ghogra will be the new president of the Youth Congress, he said. Till now, the post was held by Pilot loyalist Mukesh Bhakar, who on Monday had tweeted that the loyalty to the Congress meant the “slavery” of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The party also appointed Hem Singh Shekhawat as the new state president of the Congress Seva Dal, replacing Pilot loyalist MLA Rakesh Pareek.

The BJP on Tuesday demanded that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot take a floor test to prove his government’s majority in the Assembly. The party also alleged that the residences of MLAs were being kept under police surveillance and the legislators of Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) “had been threatened”.