'We're both assets to party': Ashok Gehlot after Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Rajasthan power tussle
Jaipur, Nov 29: A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called both Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot assets to the party, the CM on Tuesday suggested that the matter rests there.
"When Rahul Gandhi has said that our leaders are assets then we are assets... where is the dispute then," Gehlot said when asked about the former party president's observation.
Gehlot's remarks were in sharp contrast to the interview he gave last week to NDTV, calling Pilot, with whom he is caught in a tussle for power, a "traitor".
Asked to comment, Gandhi had told reporters in Indore on Monday that both leaders were assets to the party.
Last week's jibe by Gehlot and a sharp response from Pilot came just days before Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra is scheduled to enter Rajasthan.
"This is the beauty of our party that after our top leader says anything, there is no scope (for further argument)," Gehlot told reporters here before attending a party meeting to review preparations for the yatra.
Gehlot and Pilot greeted each other in the "war room" set up for the yatra. All India Congress Committee general secretary K C Venugopal and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra were among the leaders who attended the meeting.
The CM said all together will together make the yatra a success in the state.
"Rahul Gandhi also meant that every party worker is an asset," he said.
Gehlot on Thursday told NDTV that Pilot is a 'ghaddar' (traitor) who cannot replace him as he had revolted against the Congress in 2020, and tried to topple the state government. In response, Pilot said such "mud-slinging" would not help.
The CM told reporters here that the main issue before the party is the 2023 assembly election, and claimed that the mood is in the favour of the Congress.
"We will win the assembly elections. We have introduced several unique schemes and programmes which are benefitting people across the state. I get an overwhelming response from people when I go on visits. It means that the government is going to be repeated," he said.
Targeting the BJP, Gehlot said that the party should bother about itself instead of commenting on the Congress.
On reports of NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery's concern over the revival of the Old Pension Scheme, the CM said the NITI Aayog or the Reserve Bank of India should first tell what concerns they had raised at the time of demonetisation.
He said the old scheme for government employees was revived in the state for social security.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
