Senior Congress leaders reach out to Sachin Pilot, try to bring him 'back to party fold'

Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram and KC Venugopal have spoken to Sachin Pilot several times. However, sources stated that there is very less possibility of Pilot attending the Congress Legislature Party meet today.

Through this outreach, Congress is attempting to send a message to the Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister that there is still time to return to the party fold. "By repeatedly calling the meeting of the Congress legislature party, a message is being sent to Pilot that there is still time for him to come and join the CLP," sources added.

Congress sources further said that the Gandhi family has been very accommodative towards the Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister unlike their stance with other rebelling leaders. It can also be seen as a strategy by the Congress that the party should not be blamed for giving an inadequate opportunity to Pilot to make amends.

A decision on the future course of action regarding the status of Pilot is expected to be be taken after today's CLP meeting.

The Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Ashok Gehlot government has the support of 109 MLAs in the Rajasthan Assembly.

The Rajasthan Congress is in turmoil over the past few days. While Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has blamed the BJP for attempting to destabilise the State government by poaching MLAs, Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has been camping in Delhi.

A controversy broke out in Rajasthan after Special Operation Group (SOG) sent a notice to Pilot to record his statement in the case registered by SOG in the alleged poaching of Congress MLAs in the State.

-ANI

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