Defiant Sachin Pilot gets words of support from AAP, AIMIM: ‘Forced to protest against own govt’

BJP says Congress leader's protest targeting Gehlot govt would prove to be "the last nail in coffin" of the state govt

New Delhi | April 11, 2023 01:11 PM IST

2 min read

Sachin Pilot kicked off his day-long fast on Tuesday. (Express Photo)

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With former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot kicking off his day-long fast despite the Congress warning him against it, Opposition party leaders in the state were quick to point out the cracks in the state government.

Rajasthan BJP leader Rajendra Rathore said Pilot’s decision to hold the fast calling for “action on corruption” cases allegedly pending against the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government will prove to be the last nail in the coffin of the ruling Congress government in the state.

“Sachin Pilot is giving an open challenge to the high command. His day-long fast will be the last nail in the coffin of the Congress government. The Congress has lost its hold across the country,” Rathore told ANI.

Rathore said the Congress’s weakened high command was facing two significant challenges in Rajasthan. The first challenge was by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s faction boycotting a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on September 25, and the second was Pilot’s fast.

Among those who appeared to back Pilot was AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who said that the Congress’s stance on the matter sent out the message that the party was not serious about fighting corruption.

“Either Congress government or BJP government, (they are) two sides of the same coin. Both encouraged corruption. That’s why you see that an ex-deputy chief minister is going to protest againt his own government. What message goes out with this? The message that goes out is that the Congress or BJP are not serious about (fighting) corruption,” the Hyderabad MP told news agency PTI.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which has announced that it would make a serious bid in the coming Rajasthan elections, also came out in support of Pilot’s protest. AAP election in-charge for Rajasthan, Vinay Mishra, slammed the Gehlot government as “the most corrupt and useless”. “So corrupt that a highly educated young leader, Sachin Pilot, is sitting on a hunger strike against corruption today,” Mishra tweeted on Tuesday. “Now Rajasthan needs an alternative.”

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