An anguished Congress leadership finally sacked the defiant Sachin Pilot as both deputy chief minister and the state party chief, asserting that he had become a part of the BJP conspiracy to destabilise the Rajasthan government.

Congress leaders said the government was safe but some conceded that it would be doomed to live precariously for some time till the numbers can be bolstered at bypolls.

“We have 104 MLAs, including Independents and supporting parties, at present and expect at least six of the 16-17 who are with Pilot in a Gurgaon hotel to return. The government will not fall,” a senior leader involved in the counter-operation told The Telegraph on Tuesday. The current majority mark is 101.

Sachin Pilot (facing the camera) with Jyotiraditya Scindia in New Delhi in 2018 when both were considered “talented” leaders. Scindia, who has since then joined the BJP and lamented on Sunday that the Rajasthan developments showed “talent and capability find little credence in the Congress”, did not comment on the action against Pilot on Tuesday. PTI

If the rebel MLAs are disqualified in due course of time, the majority mark will come down, making the government safer than it appears now. The Congress is not in a hurry to push the disqualification process because it hopes many of the rebels will return after the tough action against Pilot.

“Some of these MLAs are opposed to Gehlot but don’t want the Congress government to fall. They will come back in a couple of days,” one leader said.

The party sought to send a firm message by sacking two ministers -– Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena -– who are with Pilot in the hope of compelling a rethink among the MLAs.

“Tough action was required to convince the MLAs that the high command will not bow to blackmail. These MLAs might have thought Pilot is close to the central leadership and will succeed in removing Gehlot. Now we are sure they will review the position as Pilot has been cornered and the high command has fully backed Gehlot,” another leader said.

Announcing the decision to sack Pilot, Randeep Surjewala, who is in Jaipur as the party’s central observer, said: “Several senior leaders talked to Pilot and asked him to return. But we regret that Sachinji and some MLAs fell into the BJP trap and became part of the conspiracy to topple the government. The MLAs are in a Gurgaon hotel in the protection of Haryana police and the entire arrangements have been made by the BJP.”

The Congress appointed a Jat leader and incumbent education minister Govind Singh Dotasara as the new state unit chief. Even frontal organisation heads were promptly replaced to check Pilot’s control. The state cabinet will be reconstituted, giving prominence to those leaders who played a key role in the survival of the government. If some rebel MLAs return, they too will be accommodated in the government.

Pilot tweeted after his removal:“Satya ko pareshan kiya ja sakta hai, parajit nahin (Truth can be tormented, can’t be defeated).”

The two ministers who have been sacked sang a different tune, asserting that they did not indulge in any anti-party activity and only raised some concerns before the high command. This line is different from that of the Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh who were holed up in Karnataka during the toppling operation then. Those MLAs had said they had nothing to do with the Congress.

But the Congress has prepared a case of anti-party activity against them. Gehlot said: “A Congress MLA has no right to demand a floor test. He can ask for a meeting of the Congress legislature party, which was held twice.”

No rebel MLA has demanded a floor test. But it was reported, quoting Pilot, that Gehlot does not have majority and a trial of strength should be held in the Assembly, not in the chief minister’s garden.

Pilot tweeted later in the evening: “My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all those who have come out in my support today. Ram Ram.”

Sources said he has been toying with the idea of floating his own party instead of joining the BJP. That’s a long haul and it is difficult to guess how many MLAs will relinquish power to join him now, particularly when Rajasthan has been traditionally averse to a third front.