All Rajasthan Congress MLAs in touch with me; Govt is stable: Cong Gen Secy Avinash Pande

Pande told PTI that he had not spoken to Pilot for the last two days and had left a message with him. "All Congress MLAs are in touch with me and the government in Rajasthan is stable and will last its full term," he said.

As the Congress grappled with factionalism in Rajasthan, its general secretary in-charge for the state Avinash Pande on Sunday said that all party MLAs were in touch with him and the government will complete its term. Pande also wondered who were the MLAs who are purported to have sided with Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot.

Pilot, who has been engaged in a power tussle with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, continues to be incommunicado, leading to anxiety in the state unit. Pande told PTI that he had not spoken to Pilot for the last two days and had left a message with him.

"All Congress MLAs are in touch with me and the government in Rajasthan is stable and will last its full term," he said. The Congress general secretary said party chief Sonia Gandhi has been updated on developments in Rajasthan.

"I have not talked to Pilot for the last two days and I'm trying to reach out to him. I have left messages for him," he told PTI. Calls and messages to Pilot went unanswered.

Sources said a few MLAs loyal to him are currently camping in the national capital, and some of them were lodged in a resort near Gurgaon. Pande also said that everyone should cooperate in the investigation being carried out by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police.

The SOG had registered an FIR based on tapped phone conversation between two men over alleged attempts to bribe Congress MLAs to topple the Gehlot government. "Everyone should cooperate with Rajasthan SOG. There is no harm in joining the probe," he said.

Pande alleged that the BJP is trying to destabilise the Congress government in Rajasthan. "Their attempt is to create an atmosphere of uncertainty in Rajasthan. But, they will not succeed in their attempts," he noted. A power struggle between Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot, which has been on since the Congress' central leadership picked the senior leader for the chief minister's post, appears to have deepened with those in Pilot's camp claiming that there have been repeated attempts to undermine his authority.

The latest flashpoint between the two is a notice issued to Pilot by the Rajasthan police's Special Operation Group in the case related to alleged attempts to bribe Congress MLAs to switch sides in the Rajya Sabha polls. Gehlot, however, has pointed out that a similar notice has been sent to him, the government's chief whip as well as some ministers.

Gehlot had on Saturday accused the opposition BJP of trying to topple his government by offering legislators large sums of money and said his administration is not just stable but will complete its five-year term. The BJP had asked Gehlot to prove his allegation of horse-trading or quit politics, and claimed he was targeting the opposition party as he was unable to check the infighting in the state Congress.

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