Jaipur, April 23: BJP Rajasthan State President Madan Rathore on Thursday sharply criticised the widely circulated photograph of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot together at the OBC Advisory Council meeting held at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday, asserting that the image is a calculated attempt to project unity while the two leaders remain deeply divided.

Rathore argued that the very need to publicly display togetherness is itself evidence of the underlying discord — a point that has resonated strongly in Rajasthan's political circles, where the Gehlot-Pilot feud has been a defining fault line within the state Congress for years.

BJP Calls Congress Unity Photo a Political Facade

Speaking to the media at the BJP State Headquarters in Jaipur, Rathore stated that the photograph, taken at a formal party event, was more optics than reality. He said that when leaders feel compelled to visually demonstrate harmony, it typically signals the opposite on the ground.

The Gehlot-Pilot rivalry is not a new story. It erupted publicly in 2020 when Pilot led a rebellion against the then Gehlot government, taking nearly two dozen MLAs to a Gurugram hotel in what was widely seen as an attempt to topple the state administration. Though the rebellion failed and Pilot was stripped of his posts as Deputy CM and Pradesh Congress Committee chief, the personal and political tensions never fully dissolved. The 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections, which the Congress lost to the BJP, were partly attributed by analysts to this persistent internal factionalism.

Rathore Questions Gehlot's Claim on Rahul Gandhi's OBC Focus

Rathore also expressed pointed surprise at a statement made by Ashok Gehlot at the same OBC Advisory Council meeting, where Gehlot reportedly claimed that Rahul Gandhi has spoken about ST, SC, and OBC communities for the first time. Rathore said this statement raises uncomfortable questions about what the Congress-led governments were doing for these communities over their decades in power.

He argued that if Rahul Gandhi is being credited with raising these issues for the first time, it implicitly acknowledges a long history of neglect by the Congress party toward the very communities it now claims to champion. This framing is significant ahead of Bihar elections and other state polls where OBC consolidation is a key electoral battleground.

Refinery Controversy: BJP Urges Opposition to Await Investigation

On the politically sensitive refinery issue — believed to be a reference to the ongoing controversy surrounding the Barmer-Pachpadra refinery project — Rathore urged the Opposition not to politicise the matter. He stated that an investigation is currently underway and that facts will emerge once the process is complete.

The refinery project has been a contentious issue in Rajasthan, with allegations of irregularities surfacing periodically. Critics have long argued that the project's progress has been hampered by political interference and administrative delays, impacting employment and industrial development in the region.

BJP National President Nitin Nabin to Visit Rajasthan on April 27

Rathore also announced that BJP National President Nitin Nabin will make his first official visit to Rajasthan since assuming the top party post on Monday, April 27. The visit carries significant organisational weight as the party looks to consolidate its position in the state following its 2023 Assembly election victory.

During the visit, Nabin will inaugurate seven new district BJP offices across Rajasthan and lay the foundation stone for the party's Jalore district office. He will travel in person to Tonk to inaugurate the district office there, while the remaining inaugurations will be conducted virtually.

Upon landing in Jaipur, the National President will proceed directly to Tonk, address party workers and the general public, and then return to the BJP State Headquarters in Jaipur. The entire programme will be broadcast live at BJP offices across Rajasthan.

At the headquarters, Nabin will hold structured meetings with state office bearers, conveners of various wings and cells, and will chair a BJP Core Committee meeting to provide direction on organisational expansion ahead of future electoral cycles.

Political Significance and What to Watch Next

The BJP's aggressive messaging around Congress's internal divisions reflects a broader strategy to keep the Gehlot-Pilot narrative alive in public discourse — a narrative that proved electorally useful in 2023. By framing even a routine Congress event as evidence of dysfunction, the BJP is signalling that it intends to remain on the front foot politically in Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, Nitin Nabin's April 27 visit is being closely watched as a barometer of the BJP's organisational priorities in the state. His meetings with core committee members and wing conveners are expected to set the agenda for booth-level strengthening ahead of the 2025-26 local body elections and the longer runway toward the next Rajasthan Assembly elections in 2028. With Congress still navigating its internal fault lines, the BJP appears determined to build on its structural advantage in the state.