There seems to be no end to the ongoing dispute between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. In the latest news, the supporters of both the Congress leaders clashed before a convention that was scheduled to take place in the presence of the national secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and co-in-charge of Rajasthan, Amrita Dhawan.
The altercation erupted even before the Congress leader arrived in Ajmer and became so heated that the meeting space was cleared of microphones, sound equipment, and other recording devices by the party workers.
She planned to visit the venue, Govindam Resort, to gather input on the administration and the organisation. The arrangements were made by Vijay Jain, a Sachin Pilot supporter but were hindered by the arrival of the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) Chairman Dharmendra Rathore, a close associate of Ashok Gehlot and his followers.
According to Vijay Jain, the event was put together by the city Congress and has nothing to do with the latter. He also stated that Amrita Dhawan will be notified of the development first.
However, Dharmendra Rathore and his people declared that they wouldn’t go out of there. Vijay Jain turned off microphones, sound systems, etc., in retaliation and left the area amidst an argument with the opposing side.
The situation worsened when he and his supporters started sloganeering against Dharmendra Rathore which escalated into a physical altercation. They also charged that Congress is doing poorly in Ajmer because of the RTDC supremo. In view of the volatile circumstances, the police intervened and the latter was safely evacuated from there.
Vinay Jain alleged that some people unnecessarily vitiated the atmosphere because they didn’t want to let the truth come before the National Secretary. He asserted that they wanted to inform Amrita Dhawan about the situation of the outfit and the administration in Ajmer.
Because of the conflict between the Gehlot and Pilot divisions, she decided to postpone the programme. She was supposed to attend the meeting but now she decided to visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah and Brahma Temple in Pushkar instead.
MLA Masuda Rakesh Pareek, former MLA Ramnarayan Gurjar, attorney Hari Singh Gurjar, Vipin Bansal, and Pratap Yadav were among those who walked out of the meeting with Vinay Jain.