Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot spoke to NDTV.

Sachin Pilot should have apologized for his rebellion in 2020 but he did not do so.

The MLAs of Rajasthan Congress cannot accept him as the Chief Minister.

Ashok Gehlot said this in a special interview with NDTV.

Repeatedly calling his former deputy CM a "traitor", 71-year-old Ashok Gehlot said if Sachin Pilot had apologized to the Rajasthan MLAs and won their hearts, it would have been a different story.

More than 90 MLAs opposed the sending of Ashok Gehlot to Delhi as Congress President.

During this, referring to his conversation with Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot said, "Till now she has not apologised. If she had apologised, I would not have had to apologise." 

The MLAs refused to attend a party meeting in September, weeks before the Congress presidential election, and declared that they would not accept Sachin Pilot as chief minister.

He did not accept sending Gehlot to Delhi by making him Congress President.

The rebellion, apparently supported by Ashok Gehlot, deeply embarrassed the Congress party at a time when Rahul Gandhi's "Bharat Jodo Yatra" was well underway.

The Rajasthan chief minister apologized to Sonia Gandhi in Delhi before reportedly dropping out of the race for the post of Congress president.

Ashok Gehlot said on the rebellion, "The MLAs were not loyal to the chief minister (me), they were loyal to the high command."

Gehlot said that the MLAs are angry because of Pilot's 2020 rebellion.

Then he had camped in Delhi with 19 MLAs and put pressure on the party.

Sachin Pilot had met two senior Union ministers in Delhi at that time.

Gehlot alleged in the interview, "Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan were also involved in this. Everyone had a meeting in Delhi."

Without backing his claim, he said, of the MLAs who supported Pilot, "some got 5, some got 10 crores. Actually this money was picked up from the BJP office in Delhi."

However, Sachin Pilot lost both his posts, Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan Congress chief.

Gehlot said that an apology was to be sought in this matter but it was never sought.

The veteran Congress leader said, "Today there is a lot of resentment among the MLAs.

They wanted that at least they should have apologized to the high command, they should have apologized to the people of Rajasthan.

He should have apologized to the MLAs that 'I made a mistake by going'. 

He said that, "If he had apologized to the MLAs of Rajasthan and won their hearts, had apologized to the people of the state, the situation would have changed."

Gehlot said the September rebellion by the MLAs was a "revolt against Pilot".

Several ministers had said that they would "not accept a traitor".

Gehlot said, "Make any one chief minister out of 102 who were loyal (in 2020). There is no problem. But how will our MLAs accept the man who betrayed?"

Gehlot said that he apologized to Sonia Gandhi as it was his moral responsibility.

"Because I am the Chief Minister. I am the leader of the Legislature Party. Despite me being there, they did not agree to come to the meeting."

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