Weeks after his all-out takedown of rival Congress leader Sachin Pilot, calling him a "Gaddar" or traitor, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday scaled down his invective, telling NDTV in an exclusive interview: "Time fixes everything".
Matching Mr Pilot's diplomatic tone, Mr Gehlot steered away from sharp rhetoric and channelled a question on their rivalry towards their political opponents.
"Such incidents and accidents often happen in politics. Time fixes everything. Every Congressman should think of the fight we have with the BJP. BJP is running a fascist government in the country. The Congress must remain strong," he said.
The comment came two days after Mr Pilot, on the eve of the election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, told NDTV he would not be "provoked". "We have to move on. I can't control what other people say and do. We have to move forward and work together," he said.
Even before that, treading carefully on the prickly subject, he had said, "I am also a human being. I did feel sad and hurt. I don't want to go into the past."
The bad blood between Mr Pilot and Mr Gehlot, which frequently places the Congress on the backfoot in Rajasthan, had spilled over last month when in an exclusive interview with NDTV, the Rajasthan Chief Minister had called his rival a traitor and said he would never be his successor.
"A gaddar (traitor) cannot be Chief Minister. The High Command cannot make Sachin Pilot the Chief Minister... a man who doesn't have 10 MLAs. Who revolted. He betrayed the party, (he) is a traitor," Mr Gehlot said.
In face of the urgent need for a united front ahead of the elections and the Congress's mega foot march 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' reaching their state, Mr Gehlot and Mr Pilot made a joint appearance and declared that the party "is supreme for us".
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