Rajasthan Chief Minister on Thursday called Pilot a “gaddar" (traitor), during an interview with NDTV.A gaddar (traitor) cannot be chief minister... the Congress high command cannot make Sachin Pilot the chief minister... a man who doesn't have 10 MLAs. Who revolted. He betrayed the party, (he) is a traitor," Gehlot said.Recalling Pilot’s infamous 2020 revolt, which had brought the Gehlot government to the brink of collapse, Gehlot, as quoted by NDTV, said: “It must be a first for India that a party president tried to bring down his own government.” He also claimed Pilot’s revolt was “funded by the BJP” and enabled by senior BJP leaders including Amit Shah.
“Amit Shah was involved in Sachin Pilot's (2020) rebellion... Rs 5-10 crore money was picked up from BJP office in Delhi and given to MLAs (who revolted). I have proof,” Gehlot told NDTV. The chief minister also refuted Pilot’s claim that there was a promise of rotating CM by the party high command when the party won the Assembly polls in 2018. Sachin Pilot, upset since being denied the chief minister's in 2018, staged a rebellion in July. Including him, 19 Congress MLAs stayed away from legislative party meetings, defying the chief minister and the party.Gehlot lodged his loyalists at hotels till the time the party leadership in Delhi intervened and Pilot gave up the revolt. The CM won a trust vote in the assembly. Pilot was sacked as the Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan Congress President for his revolt against the party and its leadership.