Rajasthan Congress Distances Itself From Sachin Pilot's "Personal Yatra"

Rajasthan Congress on Thursday distanced itself from former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot's five-day march from Ajmer to Jaipur over corruption and other issues, saying it was his "personal yatra" and the party has nothing to do with it.

The state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasara said a Congress yatra is the one which has the party symbol, and photos of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

A Congress yatra is taken out when the AICC or the state units give any programme for it, Dotasara added.

"This is his personal yatra. This is not a Congress organisation yatra," he told reporters here.

Asked whether it would benefit or damage the party just months ahead of the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Mr Dotasara said it is for the party leadership to decide.

"The party high command has to take a decision on it," he added.

Sachin Pilot, who is the Congress MLA from Tonk, launched his 125-km 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' from Ajmer on Thursday. Before starting the march, Mr Pilot addressed a public gathering on the Jaipur Highway and asserted his march was not against anyone but against corruption and for protecting the interest of the youth of the state.

Mr Pilot has been engaged in a tussle for power with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot ever since the Congress formed the government in Rajasthan in 2018. He led a failed rebellion against Mr Gehlot in July 2020 and was ousted from the government with his loyalists.

In recent weeks, Sachin Pilot has accused the state government of inaction in cases of alleged corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje government and also sat on a day-long dharna in Jaipur last month.

The assembly polls in Rajasthan are due later this year and Sachin Pilot's yatra is set to mount pressure on Ashok Gehlot and the central Congress leadership.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)