It is the people's unwavering trust, Ashok Gehlot said (File)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot highlighted the "unity of the Congress MLAs" in a tweet hours after his party scored an expected trust vote win, capping weeks of upheaval in the state politics because of an open revolt by his sacked deputy Sachin Pilot. Without naming the BJP, the Congress veteran also hit out at "forces" that are trying to topple elected governments, and said their "tactics" did not work in the state.
"Winning the trust vote in the Assembly is a message to the forces that are trying to destabilize elected govts in the country. Their every tactic failed in Rajasthan. It is the people's unwavering trust in us and unity of our Congress MLAs that has brought this victory," he tweeted.
Sachin Pilot, whose 18 loyal MLAs had been camping in BJP-ruled Haryana until his truce with the Congress leadership last week, had a patch-up with Mr Gehlot on Thursday as he was seen shaking hands with the veteran politician at a meeting of legislators in Jaipur.
Mr Gehlot, who had made personal remarks against Mr Pilot last month after sacking him from the deputy chief minister post, on Thursday, extended the olive branch as he tweeted that he was all for "forget and forgive" and moving on "for the sake of saving democracy".
During the rebellion, Mr Gehlot had claimed that Mr Pilot was conspiring with the BJP to bring down his government by buying off MLAs.
Mr Pilot, however, had repeatedly maintained that he was not joining the BJP. Several Congress leaders had countered saying why was he enjoying the BJP's hospitality in Haryana if he had no plans to switch over.
The BJP had refuted the allegations and said it was the Congress's infighting that had pushed Mr Gehlot's government on the brink of collapse.
Mr Gehlot, who had been insisting on a floor test to consolidate power in the state, received a big boost after Mr Pilot re-joined the party ranks. He had the support of 125 MLAs with the addition of the legislators of the so-called Pilot camp as against 102 without them.