Jaipur (The Hawk): After the Rajasthan Chief Minister claimed the saffron party had sent Rs 10 crore to each MLA of Pilot camp in an effort to overthrow the Congress-led state government, Satish Poonia, the president of the BJP in Rajasthan, said on Thursday that his party "cannot be held guilty" for the conflict between Gehlot and Pilot, both members of the Congress party.
"Sachin Pilot is unrelated to the BJP. The Congress is engaged in an internal conflict about this. How can we be responsible for the continuous conflict? The claims made by Gehlot lack merit. We never spoke to or met Pilot. Pilot was never necessary before, and he is not necessary now.
"A party never has to fire the chairman of the Pradesh Congress Committee and the deputy chief minister. No one was asked to go overthrow the government. Their own problem was this. While the argument was their own, an attempt has been made to blame the BJP. Even that was their own doing. "Gholt has used the BJP as a vehicle for accusation in his own defence," he continued.
Poonia added that Rajasthan's residents have endured hardship for the past four years.
Regarding the claims that the BJP's national office sent money to "pro-Pilot MLAs," Poonia stated: "These are allegations... that's why nothing comes out of them. Ashok Gehlot is playing shaky defence and trying to save face.
When asked if BJP leaders had met with Pilot and MLAs, Poonia responded, "Why would we meet, what is the reason? He wasn't our MLA. He oversaw the PCC. What should be done if someone wishes to leave their party? is the question we didn't send them.
In response to claims that money was transferred out from the BJP headquarters, Gehlot claimed that such claims always lack logic and a substance.
"Blaming the BJP is just a way of them (the Congress) expressing their own unhappiness and disappointment," he remarked.
(Inputs from Agencies)