JAIPUR, India, June 7 (ANI) — Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday opened up about the persistent friction within the state’s Congress unit, the infamous “Manesar episode,” and his strained relationship with senior leader Sachin Pilot.
Among the most striking revelations in Gehlot’s remarks was his claim that he played a pivotal role in Pilot’s ascent to the Union Cabinet. Expressing deep personal hurt, Gehlot said that despite his active efforts to secure a ministerial berth for Pilot, the latter never publicly acknowledged the support.
“When he called me, requesting help to become a minister, I facilitated it and ensured he got the position. However, he never once uttered those words from his own lips. That hurts,” Gehlot said, emphasizing that a simple acknowledgment of the assistance would have bridged the trust gap between them. “If he had just told his friends that Ashok Gehlot helped me, my heart would have been full.”
Addressing recurring political attacks regarding the Manesar rebellion, Gehlot maintained that the issue was an internal family matter that should have been put to rest long ago. He dismissed claims that the events of September 25, 2022, represented a revolt against the party high command.
“If I had revolted against the high command, would they have kept me as Chief Minister?” Gehlot asked, describing the gathering of more than 100 MLAs as a show of loyalty to the leadership during a time of crisis. He argued that party members simply did not want a leadership change in favor of someone associated with the rebellion and asserted that the party’s loyalty to the Gandhi family remains as strong as it was during the era of Indira Gandhi.
Gehlot also launched a sharp critique of both mainstream and digital media, accusing them of fueling divisions through what he described as “false narratives.” He lamented speculative reports portraying Pilot as a candidate for prime minister, party president, or other high-ranking positions, suggesting such coverage has damaged Pilot’s political standing.
“There is no substitute for truth. I have been saying for six months, forget Manesar. Move on. Why is this issue still alive? Perhaps because of the people advising him,” Gehlot said.
Despite the history of bitterness, Gehlot insisted that he holds no personal animosity toward Pilot, whom he has known since childhood.
“We still meet, we laugh, we joke. We have no personal enmity; I have treated him like a son,” he said.
Gehlot urged party leaders to focus on broader national challenges facing both India and the Congress party. He called on all leaders, including Pilot, himself, and the current state leadership, to move beyond past disputes and work together.
“We want the party to unite. The high command’s faith in the Rajasthan Congress remains unshaken, as evidenced by Rahul Gandhi’s recent praise for the current leadership team. Let us fight this battle together,” he said, reiterating his adherence to the Gandhian principle that truth is God.
Earlier, Gehlot reignited discussion surrounding the Congress presidential election of 2022. Although he was widely viewed as a frontrunner for the party presidency, he was also seen as favoring state politics.
He questioned the narrative that he deliberately avoided the national role.
“I know the stature of the Congress president’s post. Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Motilal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel all held the position. If Sonia Gandhi and the Congress were making me the Congress president, would I have refused?” Gehlot told reporters.
“The situation was created in such a way that I think it was a major conspiracy. The observers arrived suddenly, and I was defamed. People think Ashok Gehlot wanted to remain Chief Minister and did not want to become Congress president, so the revolt happened,” he added.
Gehlot said even close associates living abroad continue to believe he orchestrated the revolt in order to remain Chief Minister.
“How can I explain to them what I am explaining to you?” he asked.
Sonia Gandhi was serving as interim party president in 2022. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was eventually elected party president in October 2022 after defeating Shashi Tharoor.
Gehlot also addressed allegations that he resisted efforts to replace him with Sachin Pilot as Chief Minister.
“People feel that I wanted to remain Chief Minister and orchestrated the revolt. The media spread that narrative. I stayed quiet because I had to tell Sonia Gandhi that, whether it was a revolt against Pilot or something else, I had nothing to do with it,” Gehlot said.
He recalled that AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken had arrived in Jaipur and that a resolution could not be passed under the circumstances.
“I had suggested ending the meeting for the day and reconvening the next day. That situation never arose, and the resolution could not be passed. I later expressed my regrets to Madam. The party has given me everything, and because this situation arose, I apologized,” he said.
The political turmoil in the Rajasthan Congress in September 2022 led Kharge and Maken, serving as AICC observers, to submit a report to the party leadership after Gehlot camp legislators reportedly refused to hold one-on-one meetings with them.
Kharge said they returned to New Delhi after meeting only three MLAs in Jaipur.
“We are going to give our report to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi,” Ajay Maken had said before meeting her.
Kharge also said Sonia Gandhi would make a decision after reviewing the report.
Maken later said he had met three Gehlot camp leaders — Shanti Dhariwal, C.P. Joshi, and Pratap Khachariyawas — who presented three proposals.
According to Maken, the first proposal sought to delay implementation of a resolution empowering the Congress high command to appoint the next Chief Minister until after Oct. 19. He said the observers rejected the proposal because it created a conflict of interest if Gehlot became Congress president.
The second proposal sought group meetings rather than individual consultations with legislators, which the observers also rejected.
The third proposal demanded that the next Chief Minister be chosen from among the 102 MLAs loyal to Gehlot rather than from Pilot’s camp.
Maken said the three leaders insisted that all three conditions be accepted and that their views would be conveyed to the Congress president.
“We waited for more MLAs to come, but they didn’t come. Now Mallikarjun Kharge and I are going to Delhi to submit our report to the Congress president,” Maken had said.
He also noted that there was no clarity regarding the number or identities of legislators who had submitted resignations.
A Congress Legislative Party meeting had been scheduled at Gehlot’s residence in the presence of party observers and was expected to be attended by Pilot and his supporters.
However, Gehlot loyalists held a separate meeting at the residence of Cabinet Minister Shanti Dhariwal, after which more than 90 MLAs reportedly submitted their resignations to then-Speaker C.P. Joshi.
At the time, Pilot was widely viewed as the likely successor to Gehlot, who was preparing to contest the Congress presidential election.
Gehlot loyalists, however, reportedly favored a leader from their own camp rather than Pilot, whom they accused of rebelling against the party in 2020. (ANI)
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