Chai pe charcha: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot takes out his ministers for tea date at local stall

Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress stalwart Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday had tea with cabinet ministers at a local tea stall in Jaipur.

The Congress leader was accompanied by his cabinet ministers, including transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Energy and Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) minister BD Kalla Mahesh Joshi and Rameshwar Dudi.

The senior Congress leader and his cabinet ministers had tea in kulhad at the famous Sahu tea stall at Jaipur's Chaura Rasta in Rajasthan on Tuesday.

The 'Chai pe Charcha' moment comes at a time when the relationship between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot is purportedly considered not too amicable.

In the political circles, it is being believed that the chief minister wants to maintain bonhomie with cabinet ministers a day after Sachin Pilot hit out at the senior Congress leader.

On Tuesday, the two Congress leaders were involved in a bitter tug of war at the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office in Jaipur, where Sachin Pilot took potshots at the senior Congress leader in the presence of party MLAs.

At an event to commemorate the birth anniversary of the former prime minister and Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi, the bitterness between the two leaders came to fore once again.

While speaking on the occasion, Ashok Gehlot mentioned how he made Rajiv Gandhi agree to help Rajasthan during flood situation in the state.

Later at the same event, Sachin Pilot hit out at Ashok Gehlot and said the chief minister (Gehlot) should also listen to the MLAs the way Rajiv Gandhi had listened to him.

The cold war between the two leaders started soon after the result of Rajasthan Assembly elections in 2018, in which Congress had defeated the BJP-led Vasundhara Raje government by a margin of seats.
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