Rajasthan political crisis: 'Defiant' Sachin Pilot skips second Congress MLAs' meet
Jaipur/IBNS: Rebel Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Tuesday skipped the meeting of all Congress MLAs for the second time, keeping the Congress in the desert state on an edge, media reports said.
The meeting was called by Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot with whom Pilot is at the loggerheads.
Pilot, who is reportedly at a Delhi hotel now, is not present in the MLAs' meeting.
Though Gehlot posed confident over keeping his flock together, Pilot claimed the backing of around 17 MLAs.
If Pilot and the 17 MLAs indeed leave the Congress, the Rajasthan government would certainly turn "minority" replicating the political situation that had developed earlier this year in Madhya Pradesh.
Political expert Pradeep Bhandari, however, feels losing Pilot won't hurt the Rajasthan Congress but will impact the party nationally.
"Losing Sachin may not threaten the government in Rajasthan, but it will be a big national political wound for the Congress. Filling this wound in near future will be difficult," Bhandari told India Blooms.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has 75 seats in the assembly, is closely watching the political development.
"BJP should keep an arm's length from the crisis in Congress. It has a very strong political unit in Rajasthan. Haste should not lead to miscalculated political adventurism," Bhandari said.
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