Pilot’s birthday celebration turns power projection!

Jaipur: Even with claims being made about a possible change of guard in the Rajasthan Government with a certain section of Rajasthan Congress claiming that CM Ashok Gehlot will now head the party’s national politics, supporters of former deputy CM Sachin Pilot on Tuesday thronged his Civil Lines residence here to celebrate his birthday, which is being seen as a ‘show of strength’, by the central and state leaders of the grand old party. In fact, political observers claim that amid a continuing tussle between Pilot and Gehlot camps for supremacy in the party’s state unit, an attempt has been made to pressurise the party’s central ‘powers’ through such a ‘projection’.

Pilot is scheduled to be in Kanyakumari for the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on his birthday on September 7, and thus party leaders, MLAs and workers thronged to his residence and extended greetings on Tuesday. In all, 3 ministers and 18 MLAs including 7 MLAs from the Gehlot camp reached Pilot’s residence to congratulate him. The rush of supporters and their cars led to a traffic bottleneck in the Civil Lines area. Notably, the grapevine in Congress is that Gehlot’s likely departure to New Delhi as the AICC president has created a new hope among Pilot supporters to claim for the likely vacancy at 8 Civil Lines. Minister Hemaram Chaudhary, Brijendra Ola, Deepender Singh Shekhawat, Harish Meena, Rakesh Pareek, GR Khatana, Suresh Modi, PR Meena, Ved Prakash Solanki, Indraj Gurjar, Ganga Devi, Mukesh Bhaker, Ram Niwas Gavadia, OP Hoodla, Suresh Tank, Dr Suresh Chaudhary, Mahendra Meena, Sona Devi Bawri, Naseem Akhtar Insaaf, Rajendra Chaudhary, Prashant Sahdev Sharma, Mahendra Khedi and several other MLAs and leaders had reched Pilot’s residence.