India: Congress party sacks Sachin Pilot as deputy chief minister

Dubai: The Congress party in Rajasthan has sacked rebel leader Sachin Pilot as Deputy Chief Minister after he skipped a second meeting of the state legislature on Tuesday, according to media reports. He was also sacked from the post of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief of Rajasthan -- the top post in the state unit of the party.

Sachin Pilot, whose demands reportedly include the position of the chief minister, was asked to attend the meeting as a surety for his talks with the leadership.

Who is Sachin Pilot?

Born on September 7, 1977, Sachin is the son of former Congress leader late Rajesh Pilot. At 26, Sachin became the youngest member of parliament in India when he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Dausa constituency in the 2004 general elections.

In the 2018 state elections in Rajasthan, Sachin won from the Tonk constituency and was being seen as the likely candidate for chief ministership with Congress winning the election. However, the Congress high command opted for seasoned politician Ashok Gehlot for the post, with Sachin being sworn in as his deputy.

Though considered to be one of the foremost members of the Congress youth brigade led by former party president Rahul Gandhi, Sachin's distance with the party top-brass in Delhi started widening ever since the 2018 assembly elections and culminated with him being sacked today.