Jaipur: Rajasthan’s education minister Govind Singh Dotasra was Tuesday declared as the new chief of the Congress’ Rajasthan unit replacing Sachin Pilot, senior party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala announced in Jaipur.
Sachin Pilot was also sacked as Rajasthan’s deputy chief minister along with two other ministers, amid the face-off with chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Surjewala said.
Ramesh Meena, the state’s food and civil supplies minister, and tourism minister Vishvendra Singh have also been sacked.
“The Congress party has taken some decisions with a heavy heart,” he said.
Two ministers who have joined him in his revolt have also been removed. Sachin Pilot was “ensnared” by the BJP to bring down the Congress government in Rajasthan, said the party. Sachin Pilot, whose demands reportedly included Chief Ministership, had been asked to attend the meeting before the leadership could deliberate on discussions with him. But he rejected all overtures and his exit from the Congress looked inevitable from that point.
The second Congress legislature party meeting comes as one of the several attempts by the Congress leaders to save the government from collapsing, just months after it lost the Madhya Pradesh in similar fashion. The attempts have, so far, fell flat as Sachin Pilot remains defiant, claming the Ashok Gehlot government is in minority. Ashok Gehlot, however, claims to have the support of 102 MLAs, a comfortable majority in a 200-member Assembly.
PNN/Agencies
