ISSUE DATE: April 26, 2021
UPDATED: April 17, 2021 13:45 IST
Public partnership: File photo of the Congress’s Sachin Pilot and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot
For Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, the three bypolls on April 17, in Rajsamand, Sahara and Sujangarh, may be a challenge comparable in scale and complexity to the BJP-backed rebellion in July 2020 by party counterweight Sachin Pilot. The state assembly has 200 seats, of which the Congress currently holds 104 and the BJP, 71. However, six of the Congress MLAs are defectors from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The validity of their entry into the Congress is currently sub-judice, giving the party a clear strength of 98, two short of the halfway mark.
Rajasthan: Bypolls of prestige
For the upcoming bypolls, to be held on April 17, the Congress and the BJP have fielded political veterans. Though these elections will not change the government, they could make or break leaders
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UPDATED: April 6, 2021 20:54 IST
Congress party workers greet Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot during his visit to Bikaner, Feb 2021 (PTI)
On Tuesday, March 30, social media was abuzz with photos of the Congress’s Sachin Pilot running into Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the BJP’s Union minister for Jalshakti at Maharana Pratap Airport at Udaipur. Both were returning from byelection campaigns in Rajsamand. The unusual shot of the two with Pilot putting his arm around Shekhawat’s waist caught the attention of many because of Pilot’s aborted rebellion last year, and because Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has, in the past, specifically accused Pilot of conspiring with Shekhawat to bring down the Rajasthan government.