Rajasthan Elections: Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot to contest polls, deny rift

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday denied having any rift with state Congress chief Sachin Pilot and said that they both will fight the December 7 Assembly elections.

"Both, I and Sachin Pilot will fight the Rajasthan assembly elections," Gehlot said in a press conference in Delhi with Pilot sitting by his side.

With the announcement, the suspense on the name of the Congress party’s chief ministerial face has deepened as both Gehlot and Pilot are claimants for the top job. The Rajasthan Congress is reportedly divided between two factions - loyalists of Gehlot and Pilot.

"On Congress president Rahul Gandhi's instruction and on Gehlotji's request, I have decided to contest the Assembly elections. We all will together ensure a massive victory for the Congress in the upcoming polls," Pilot added.

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The Congress party is hoping to come back to power in Rajasthan as BJP's chief ministerial face Vasundhara Raje is facing massive anti-incumbency in the state. News Nation's recent opinion poll on Rajasthan elections had predicted massive victory for the Congres party in the December 7 Assembly elections.

Earlier in the day, in a major set back for the BJP, its MP from Dausa, Harish Meena, joined the Congress party ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections. Meena, a former DGP, described the move as his "ghar vapasi".

BJP MP from Rajasthan's Dausa Harish Meena has joined the Congress Party in the presence of party leaders Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, in Delhi pic.twitter.com/aiaePYmNnM

— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2018