On the recommendation of party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress politician and former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot clarified on Saturday that he has patched things up with Ashok Gehlot. Going into the Assembly elections, he claimed that communal leadership was the ‘only way’ forward.

Days after the party’s important Rajasthan election strategy meeting, Pilot made his statement. Following the meeting, the Congress on Thursday said it can win the Rajasthan assembly elections if there is unity and issued a warning of harsh action against those speaking outside the party forum and failing to maintain discipline. The party also said it might not name a chief ministerial candidate for elections scheduled for later this year. Pilot said Kharge advised him to “forgive and forget” and to move on.

“Ashok Gehlot ji is older than me, he has more experience. He has heavy responsibilities on his shoulders. When I was the Rajasthan Congress president, I tried to take everyone along. I think that today he is the Chief Minister (Gehlot), so he is trying to take everyone along,” Sachin Pilot said while speaking to news agency PTI.

“If there is a little back and forth, then it is not a big issue, because the party and the public are more important than any individual. I also understand this and he also understands it,” the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister said.

Pilot recalled a meeting with Congress chief Kharge, where he was adviced to focus on the future rather than dwelling on the past, in response to a question about his own criticism of the Gehlot government’s inaction on problems like corruption during the Vasundhara Raje government.

Gehlot and Pilot have been engaged in a power struggle since Congress formed government in 2018. Pilot rebelled against the Gehlot administration in 2020, which led to his dismissal as the party’s state unit president and deputy chief minister.

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