Ashok Gehlot calling Pilot traitor 'unexpected',crisis will be resolved by leadership: Jairam Ramesh
Sanavad (MP), Nov 25: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot using the term "Gaddar" (traitor) for party colleague Sachin Pilot was "unexpected".
The party needs both the warring leaders, and the crisis in the Rajasthan unit will be resolved keeping in mind the interests of the organization and not individuals, he added.
Ramesh, the Congress's media head, was speaking during Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra here.
Gehlot, in a TV interview on Thursday, said Pilot was a "Gaddar" and cannot replace him as Rajasthan CM, drawing sharp response from his former deputy who said such "mud-slinging" would not help.
Gehlot also alleged that Pilot had rebelled against the Congress in 2020 and tried to topple the party's government in Rajasthan.
"Gehlot is a senior and experienced leader of the Congress. But the term used by him in an interview (for Pilot) is unexpected and even I am surprised," Ramesh said.
"The party needs both Gehlot and Pilot. There are some differences but we are not running away from this. The leadership will find an appropriate solution to the Rajasthan issue, but it will be done keeping in mind the party organization and not the individuals," he further said.
Ramesh also described Pilot as a "youthful, energetic, popular and a charismatic leader".
In a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, he said, "Congress leaders can speak from their heart without any fear because the party leadership does not take any decision like a dictator, and this is the difference between the Congress and BJP."
The tussle between Gehlot and Pilot has flared up at a time when the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra is poised to enter Rajasthan in a few days.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
