Jaipur: Former deputy CM Sachin Pilot asserted Wednesday he wouldn’t back down on his demands for an inquiry into alleged corruption when BJP was in office from 2013 to 2018 with Vasundhara Raje as CM as well as justice for the youth affected by question paper leaks in recruitment exams.
This was his first reaction after the Congress high command claimed to have brokered a truce between CM Ashok Gehlot and Pilot on May 29 in Delhi. “I assured the youth on a public platform… Congress has always been against corruption and in the interest of the youth. So, an inquiry into corruption charges during the BJP government and justice to the youngsters is essential and could not be compromised,” the Congress MLA said in Tonk, his assembly constituency where he attended several programmes.
Pilot had placed his demands before the Gehlot government on May 15, with the caveat that he would launch a statewide agitation if these were not met by May 31.
Before that, he held a daylong protest “fast” in Jaipur on April 11 and took out a Jan Sangharsh Yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur, which ended May 15.
He reaffirmed his demands in Tonk as the deadline he had set ended Wednesday. He said the Congress leadership is aware of his demands and the party’s top functionaries, including Rahul Gandhi, had “reiterated time and again its policy of zero tolerance against corruption”.
He drew a parallel between alleged graft cases during the Raje government and BJP’s defeat in the recent assembly elections in Karnataka because of corruption allegations against the party’s ministers and senior members. Pilot said he, Gehlot and other Congress functionaries had called out the Raje government for corruption ahead of the 2018 assembly polls, and people listened and voted BJP out.
The Congress government should fulfil what it promised the people — an inquiry into those graft charges. Also, he said Congress always stood for the youth and hence, should deliver them justice against corrupt practices in the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), with an impartial inquiry and harsh punishment to those responsible for exam paper leaks.
“On the issue of corruption and the future of the youth, compromise is not possible,” he said. Pilot said the state BJP leadership has been ineffective because of infighting, which is why PM Narendra Modi is visiting Rajasthan more often lately. The state elects a new assembly later this year.
This was his first reaction after the Congress high command claimed to have brokered a truce between CM Ashok Gehlot and Pilot on May 29 in Delhi. “I assured the youth on a public platform… Congress has always been against corruption and in the interest of the youth. So, an inquiry into corruption charges during the BJP government and justice to the youngsters is essential and could not be compromised,” the Congress MLA said in Tonk, his assembly constituency where he attended several programmes.
Pilot had placed his demands before the Gehlot government on May 15, with the caveat that he would launch a statewide agitation if these were not met by May 31.
Before that, he held a daylong protest “fast” in Jaipur on April 11 and took out a Jan Sangharsh Yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur, which ended May 15.
He reaffirmed his demands in Tonk as the deadline he had set ended Wednesday. He said the Congress leadership is aware of his demands and the party’s top functionaries, including Rahul Gandhi, had “reiterated time and again its policy of zero tolerance against corruption”.
He drew a parallel between alleged graft cases during the Raje government and BJP’s defeat in the recent assembly elections in Karnataka because of corruption allegations against the party’s ministers and senior members. Pilot said he, Gehlot and other Congress functionaries had called out the Raje government for corruption ahead of the 2018 assembly polls, and people listened and voted BJP out.
The Congress government should fulfil what it promised the people — an inquiry into those graft charges. Also, he said Congress always stood for the youth and hence, should deliver them justice against corrupt practices in the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), with an impartial inquiry and harsh punishment to those responsible for exam paper leaks.
“On the issue of corruption and the future of the youth, compromise is not possible,” he said. Pilot said the state BJP leadership has been ineffective because of infighting, which is why PM Narendra Modi is visiting Rajasthan more often lately. The state elects a new assembly later this year.
