Sachin Pilot Says 'No Bitterness In Relationships' After Gehlot's Fresh Salvos | Watch

Sachin Pilot on Wednesday chose restraint over retaliation. Addressing a Kisan Sammelan in Karauli, the senior Congress leader said differences of opinion between political colleagues were natural, but bitterness had no place in those relationships. The remarks came days after former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot fired fresh criticism at him, demanding Pilot acknowledge his mistakes and “accept the truth” about the 2020 rebellion that had fractured the Congress government in the state.

Pilot did not name Gehlot once. “If you look someone in the eye, you can tell whether that person is speaking the truth or telling a lie. I respect each and every person I have worked with. There can be differences of opinion but there should be no bitterness

in relationships,” Pilot said. He added that he had no personal issues with anyone, and that words, once spoken, could not be recalled.

“I speak very carefully because once words leave your mouth, they do not come back. Restraint is important. Contentment is important. Giving respect is important,” he said.

Invoking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s political messaging, Pilot said, “Rahul ji keeps saying we must open mohabbat ki dukan. Even if someone disagrees with us or does not accept what we say, give that person respect and honour so that they remain with you.”

On the occasion, Pilot also unveiled a statue of his father and former Union Minister, the late Squadron Leader (R) Rajesh Pilot.

What Gehlot Said, And What The September 2022 Crisis Was Actually About

Gehlot had said on June 7 that the September 2022 episode, in which dozens of MLAs loyal to him skipped a Congress Legislature Party meeting and gathered instead at minister Shanti Dhariwal’s residence, was not a revolt against the Congress high command but a pushback among legislators against Pilot’s possible elevation as Chief Minister. The CLP meeting, called with AICC observers present, failed to pass a routine one-line resolution authorising the party president to decide the leadership question, the first time in years such a resolution had not gone through.

On Sunday, Gehlot went further, saying his MLAs were willing to accept any leader chosen by the party except Pilot, and that resentment persisted because Pilot had never acknowledged the 2020 rebellion that cost him his positions as Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan Congress chief. Gehlot also claimed he had been responsible for Pilot’s elevation as a Union minister in the UPA government, and that no gratitude had followed.

The Gehlot-Pilot rivalry has run beneath the surface of Rajasthan Congress politics for years, occasionally breaching it entirely. Wednesday’s Karauli address was Pilot’s answer, delivered in the language of temperance rather than the vocabulary of the feud.