P Chidambaram’s Advice To Sachin Pilot In A Phone Call

“Sachin Pilot spoke to me during the day yesterday,” Mr Chidambaram confirmed to NDTV.

New Delhi:

Sachin Pilot spoke to senior party leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram on Thursday, in a surprising move on a day he and other rebel MLAs took the party to court over disqualification notices served to them.

Several senior leaders have reached out to Sachin Pilot since he launched his revolt on Sunday against his former boss, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

“He spoke to me during the day yesterday,” Mr Chidambaram confirmed to NDTV.

“I just reiterated that the leadership had publicly invited him to meet with it, and all issues can be discussed. I advised him to seize the opportunity,” he said.

The Congress’s top leadership, the Gandhis, have reached out to the rebel leader several times over the past few days but Sachin Pilot has been largely unresponsive.

This is the first known instance of Mr Pilot dialing any senior Congress leader.

Press Trust of India quoted sources as claiming that Mr Pilot had spoken to “a senior party leader from the southern India on Thursday laying conditions for his return.” The sources were quoted as saying that the rebel leader was told that the Congress party’s “doors are still open” for him, but he would have to return unconditionally.

Besides Mr Chidambaram, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also reportedly spoke to Mr Pilot on Wednesday evening.

Mr Pilot also spoke to Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is on the opposing side of a courtroom battle today between the rebels and the Congress.

Mr Pilot and 18 MLAs took the Congress to court yesterday over disqualification notices served to them for “anti-party activities”.

The Rajasthan escalation has moved on a parallel track with the Congress’s reach-out attempts in Delhi.

While a section of Congress leaders said Mr Pilot had “reached a point of no return” by going to court, the party’s Randeep Singh Surjewala again said today that “doors were open for whoever wanted to come back”.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had been asked to dial down his attacks on Mr Pilot, whom he has accused of conspiring with the BJP and “making deals” to buy MLAs for a coup.