Former Rajasthan deputy state chief Sachin Pilot has announced a five-day anti-corruption 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' awareness drive starting Thursday.
The campaign, which plans to run from the Ajmer to Jaipur district, looks to force the Congress-led state government to take action on allegations of corruption committed during the previous Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) mandate.
It comes despite the fact that the current state government is led by Pilot's own party, the Congress Party, with Congress' Ashok Gehlot occupying the state chief seat.
Pilot accuses Gehlot of inaction on corruption. In 2015, Congress accused the local BJP branch of allocating 653 mines in the state arbitrarily, violating regulations.
What Did Pilot Say?
In a direct hit at the current head of the state government, Pilot claimed that Gehlot was in cahoots with BJP's former state chief Vasundhara Raje.
Gehlot recently noted that Raje refused to support a conspiracy to "topple" him in 2020 when Pilot was forced to step down as Rajasthan deputy state chief.
Rivalry Within Congress
Rajasthan is one of the only three states in which India's main opposition party currently rules without a coalition. The other two are Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The bitterness between Pilot and Gehlot has continued since the party formed a government in 2018. It worsened after Pilot was stripped of his post as deputy state chief in 2020.
State assembly elections in Rajasthan are due at the end of the year.