A day after Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s ultimatum to the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government on three demands concerning corruption and the youth, the Gehlot camp on Tuesday shot back at Pilot saying the demands are impractical. After Cabinet Minister Mahesh Joshi said Pilot and minister Rajendra Gudha’s corruption allegations against the government led by their party as “very surprising and regrettable”, Congress MLA Chetan Dudi, from Deedwana in Nagaur, said that “the three issues raised by Mr Sachin Pilot are impractical and completely incomprehensible”. He went on to say, “Don’t you know that RPSC (Rajasthan Public Service Commission) is an independent constitutional body that can never be dissolved? Even the resignation of an RPSC member is accepted by the President. Why are you confusing the youth?” Addressing a rally on Monday at the end of his five-day Jan Sangharsh Yatra, Pilot demanded that the RPSC be dissolved, reconstituted, and backed by a new law. He also demanded compensation for “lakhs of students” who have financially suffered due to paper leaks, and a high-level inquiry into corruption cases under the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government. He said if these three demands were not met by month-end, he would launch a statewide agitation. “The demand for compensation over paper leaks is only to win fake praise because this does not happen in any state. To date, no leader in history has made such a demand. And the strict actions that have been taken against paper leaks in Rajasthan have not been taken in any other state. These youth knows this very well,” Dudi said, pointing out various measures the state government had taken in this regard, including the arrest of more than 150 people. On Raje cases, Dudi asked Pilot to tell “which cases of the Vasundhara government are still pending, which they want to get investigated, because … these cases have been settled by the High Court and the Supreme Court and all the mining leases have also been cancelled”. Attacking Pilot and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Jodhpur MP, over the latter’s alleged involvement in a scam, Dudi said, “There is the biggest Sanjivani scam in Rajasthan in which lakhs of people's homes were robbed, But, in the rally, the name of the main accused of Sanjivani scam was not even taken and after the rally, the main accused tweeted in praise of Pilot. This is the truth of today's rally because friendship has been there since the time of Manesar.” After MLAs loyal to Pilot rebelled in 2020, they were sequestered in Manesar, Haryana. After Monday’s rally, Shekhawat shared visuals from the event to attack the Congress and Gehlot, without naming him. Minister Subhash Garg too attacked the Pilot camp, saying, “Does the high command know this or not? That who has taken a supari (contract) to ensure that the government does not repeat. The ones who have taken a supari are unable to accept the atmosphere created in the state post-Budget and the inflation relief camps.” Cabinet Minister for Revenue Ramlal Jat said, “The Congress government has taken historic actions against corruption and paper leaks in Rajasthan. The state government fought against the wrong decisions of the previous (BJP) government till the High Court and the Supreme Court and all the cases were settled and action was taken. The decisions of the HC and the SC have come on the issue of mining allocation, bajri mining, and the Irani carpet case during the time of the Vasundhara government. Lalit Modi's case is pending with the ED (Enforcement Directorate). Even an RPSC member has been jailed in paper leaks. Special law has been made for the future of youth and an STF (Special Task Force) has been formed. Nearly two lakh youth have been given government jobs in a transparent manner … This is the reason why even the Opposition BJP has become issueless in Rajasthan today.” Asked about Pilot’s threat to launch a statewide agitation, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury backed Gehlot, saying, “Whoever wants to do whatever should be allowed to. Recently too he (Pilot) has done a lot. But we can say with certainty that if a list of capable chief ministers is made, then our CM Ashok Gehlot will be in the first place. If someone likes it or not, that's different … Congress knows how to handle any sort of challenge.” All India Congress Committee (AICC) co-in-charge of Rajasthan Qazi Nizamuddin adopted a more neutral position. “Sachin is a strong pillar of the Congress party. Our national president is keeping an eye on the entire activity happening here.” When contacted, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra refused to comment on the matter.
