The crisis in ruling Congress in Rajasthan is seemingly getting worse as deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot is reportedly in talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), NDTV reported, citing sources. According to the report, Pilot, who shares an uneasy equation with chief minister Ashok Gehlot, is claiming the support of 19 MLAs including three independents.

The development comes months after the grand old party lost Madhya Pradesh to the BJP after Jyotiraditya Scindia shifted allegiance along with his supporters following conflicts with chief minister Kamal Nath. The crisis had highlighted the rising tensions between the old and new guard within congress.

The Rajasthan crisis seems to be following the Madhya Pradesh template.

Earlier Sunday, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal took to Twitter to express his worries about the state of the party in Rajasthan. "Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables," he tweeted.

The flashpoint between the two top leaders in Rajasthan was a probe ordered by the state police into "poaching" of MLAs and a notice sent to Pilot, which has not gone well with him.

The Rajasthan police have issued notices to Gehlot and his deputy Pilot to record their statement in connection with the alleged attempts to topple their Congress government, the NDTV report said.

The police's special operations group (SOG) also sent a notice to the government chief whip Mahesh Joshi to record his statement, the report added.

The move came after the SOG on Friday registered an FIR against two people, who have been detained, for their alleged involvement in horse-trading of Congress MLAs for toppling the Gehlot government.

Gehlot on Saturday accused the opposition BJP of trying to topple his government by offering his legislators large sums of money and said his administration is not just stable but will complete its five-year term.

The BJP had asked Gehlot to prove his allegation of horse-trading levelled against it or quit politics and claimed he was targeting the opposition party as he was unable the check the infighting in the state Congress.

With agency inputs

First Published:Jul 12, 2020 4:01 PM IST