Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were campaigning for the bypoll elections in two seats due this month.
Ajay Maken, the Congress general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, today posted a photo of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his in-house rival Sachin Pilot as the senior Congress leaders left for an election rally for the bypoll elections in two seats due later this month.
The picture shows Mr Maken sitting inside a helicopter with Mr Gehlot sitting in front of him. Sachin Pilot and party state chief Govind Singh Dotasra are seen sitting on the other side.
"Off for the by-elections," Mr Maken wrote in Hindi, tagging the three leaders.
The picture is seen by many as the party's attempt to present a united face in the state leadership, barely a week after Mr Gehlot's sharp political, message to opponents where he said, "I am here to stay, I am not going anywhere for the next 15 to 20 years. Some people may not like that but it can't be helped".
Last month, Sachin Pilot's meeting with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra - days after a leadership change in Punjab, a state ruled by the Congress - had set off speculation of plans of a similar exercise in the state. Mr Pilot's meeting with the Gandhis was his second meeting in less than a week.
Days later, Mr Gehlot - in his first public appearance after he recovered from an angioplasty - put to rest any speculation of a leadership change in Rajasthan.
"For 15-20 years, nothing will happen to me. Now if you want to be sad, be sad, it's not in my hands. Nothing will happen to me)," he said, asserting that his government will not only get re-elected to power in the next Assembly elections, but that he himself will be around for the next 15-20 years.
Ashok Gehlot has been under pressure for a while to go for a cabinet expansion to accommodate Mr Pilot's loyalists. So far the Chief Minister has resisted making the changes that his party leadership had promised to Mr Pilot, who was Deputy Chief Minister till June last year when he was forced to resign.
Mr Gehlot - already a two-time Chief Minister by 2018 - was made the Chief Minister again after the Congress won the assembly election that year. But it was not an easy decision for the party as Mr Pilot was also eyeing the top post. The younger Congress leader is credited with rebuilding the party after its washout in the 2013 state election.
Last year, Mr Pilot supported by 18 Congress MLAs ended a month-long revolt against Mr Gehlot only after a meeting with the Gandhis, who apparently assured him that their grievances would be heard by a three-member committee that includes Priyanka Gandhi.