Didn't hanker for post, wanted self-respect, says Pilot after meeting

New Delhi : (IANS) Indicating an end to the rebellion in the Congress' Rajasthan unit, a meeting took place between Sachin Pilot and his loyalists and the three-member panel formed by interim party chief Sonia Gandhi to look into their grievances, at the war room in the Congress headquarters here on Monday evening.

Pictures of the meeting show the MLAs sitting with Pilot and the committee members -- Ahmed Patel, Priyanka Gandhi and K.C. Venugopal -- standing in the background, with the optics suggesting a happy ending for the party.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Pilot said: "I wanted our self-respect to remain intact. I have given 20 years to the party now. We have always attempted to ensure the participation of people who worked hard to form the government."

He said that he was not hankering for any post as the party has the sole right to give and take away a post.

Pilot also stressed that his fight was ideological and not personal.

"Since the past few days, some MLAs were in Delhi... There were some issues of the state which we wanted to highlight and I have done that by raising the issues clearly. I have been saying since the beginning that all these things were based on principles. I always thought these things are essential to be raised in the party's interest," he told mediapersons.

Pilot also said that he believed that all these issues will be resolved after Sonia Gandhi heard all their concerns and the governance issues that they had raised. He also welcomed the formation of the three-member committee.

"I heard a lot of things. I was surprised by a few things that were said. I think we should always maintain restraint and humility. We had formed a government in Rajasthan after five years of hard work," he said.

Pilot also said that he didn't want to raise the issues discussed in front of the media.