Jaipur, Mar 23 (PTI) Rajasthan Congress leader and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said the party didn’t want to field CM Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav from Jodhpur in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but he backed his candidature.
Pilot said he endorsed Vaibhav Gehlot’s candidature as he didn’t want that the CM’s “morale get hurt”.
The former Rajasthan Congress chief’s statement came days after the CM claimed that he had recommended Pilot’s name for a ministerial birth during the UPA-2.
Both leaders were earlier involved in a power tussle, leading to a political crisis in the state in 2020.
The CM’s son had contested unsuccessfully in the 2019 parliamentary polls from Jodhpur, a seat considered as a stronghold of CM Gehlot. “The high command at that time was not in much favour of giving ticket to Vaibhav Gehlot. As I was the state president, I felt that I should endorse him,” Pilot told mediapersons here.
“As single name had come from Jodhpur and his father was the sitting CM, I endorsed Vaibhav’s name,” Pilot added.
“I had asked the Sonia Gandhiji and Rahulji to give him a chance as he had worked with me. I did not want Ashokji’s morale to get hurt as he had just become the CM while I was the state party president,” Pilot said.
Pilot said, however, Vaibhav Gehlot lost the polls by a “huge margin”.
In Madhya Pradesh, former CM Kamal Nath’s son was given ticket and he won the elections, Pilot added.
On fraud charges against Vaibhav Gehlot, Pilot said he has himself clarified.
“I don’t have to anything further on this,” he said. AG AG RDK RDK
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Source: The Print
