Pilot sacked as deputy CM, party's Rajasthan unit chief

Jaipu: The Congress on Tuesday sacked Sachin Pilot from the posts of Rajasthan's deputy chief minister and the party's state unit chief.

Cracking the whip on the rebel party leader, the party also removed his loyalists Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena from the state cabinet.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Governor Kalraj Mishra immediately after the Congress Legislature Party meeting where the decision to remove the three ministers was taken.

Sources said Gehlot briefed the Governor on recent developments in the state, caught in the grip of a power struggle between him and Pilot.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara will be the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief.

He said Sachin Pilot enjoyed the affection and blessings of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and was given political power at a young age.

Yet, he and other ministers were trying to topple the state government as part of a BJP conspiracy, he said after the Congress Legislature Party meeting at a hotel on the Delhi highway here.

"It cannot be acceptable to any political party. Therefore, the Congress took the decisions with a heavy heart, he said announcing the removal of Sachin Pilot, Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena from the state cabinet.

Surjewala said Govind Singh Dotasara, who is an experienced OBC leader and the son of a farmer, has been made the new state Congress chief.

Tribal leader and MLA Ganesh Ghogra will be the new president of the Youth Congress, he said. Till now, the post was held by Pilot loyalist Mukesh Bhakar, who on Monday had tweeted that the loyalty to the Congress meant the "slavery" of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

The party also appointed Hem Singh Shekhawat as the new state president of the Congress Seva Dal, replacing Pilot loyalist MLA Rakesh Pareek.