Congress leader and Dausa MP Sachin Pilot has asked the BJP Government in Rajasthan to resign, saying it had lost the Constitutional authority to rule after the killing of over 70 members of the Gurjjar community in the past year during protests for ST status. Dismissing Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s call for a meeting of states to discuss the Gurjjar demand, Pilot said she was “trying to deflect” attention from real issues. “There is no such demand in other states,” Pilot, who is himself a Gurjjar leader, said. “Why does she want to involve all the CMs then? She is just trying to deflect attention. Besides, the state Government wants reservation for Gurjjars under the category of denotified tribes. She does not need to write to the Centre for this. The state Government can do it by a simple order. But reservation under the denotified tribe category is not the same as ST category.” Pilot also met Home Minister Shivraj Patil over the situation in Rajasthan. The Congress also held Raje squarely responsible for the ongoing violent agitation on Monday, even as it skirted queries about its government’s stance at the Centre on the Gurjjar demand. "The larger issue here is the manner in which the Rajasthan Government has allowed the constitutional machinery to break down," AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.Meanwhile, the Lok Janshakti Party on Monday demanded dismissal of the BJP Government and imposition of President's Rule.
