Pilot's 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' is a 'personal' one, keeping eye on it: Cong

Sachin Pilot's 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' is a "personal" one and the party "is keeping an eye on" it, Congress' Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said on Friday.

He said a discussion on all issues would be held when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge returns from Karnataka.

Randhawa made the remarks after a meeting with state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra and co-in-charges Qazi Muhammad Nizamuddin, Amrita Dhawan and Virendra Rathore, among others, at the party's Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road office where Pilot's march, organisational issues and preparations for the assembly polls this year were discussed.

"I met the three secretaries attached to me and the Pradesh Congress Committee chief here. This was our first meeting together as we were busy with the elections in Karnataka and the Jalandhar bypoll. The strengthening of the organisation and appointments for the frontal organisations in the state were discussed," Randhawa told reporters after the meeting.

 

Asked about Pilot's yatra, he said, "It his personal yatra, he is taking out the yatra on his own, we are keeping an eye on that and when Kharge ji comes back from Karnataka, all issues would be discussed."

Pressed further and asked if action would be taken against Pilot, Randhawa said, "I have said in one line (that) we are keeping an eye on it. I will convey my views to the Congress president."

Pilot on Thursday launched a 125-kilometre 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' from Ajmer to Jaipur to raise the issue of corruption during the previous BJP regime led by Vasundhara Raje and cases of paper leaks in government recruitment exams.

He has said his march is not against anyone but over issues of corruption. Pilot claimed that he has been writing to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for a year and a half for action on corruption but nothing has been forthcoming.

The five-day yatra mounts pressure on the Congress leadership ahead of the Rajasthan assembly elections slated for later this year with the party also facing anti-incumbency, apart infighting in the state unit.

Pilot and Gehlot have been engaged in a power tussle since the Congress formed government in the state in 2018. In 2020, Pilot led a failed revolt against the Gehlot government after which he was removed from the posts of party state unit president and deputy chief minister.

The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister had last month defied a warning from the party and went ahead with a day-long fast targeting Gehlot over his "inaction" on alleged corruption during the Raje government.