Back from the verge of a collapse, the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan is now beaming with confidence after the return of ‘rebel’ Sachin Pilot. Talking to the media after the Congress Legislative Party meeting at his residence in Jaipur on Thursday, Gehlot said the Congress will bring confidence motion in the Assembly. Just hours earlier, the opposition BJP said it will move a no-confidence motion during the Assembly session set to convene on Friday, August 14.

Gehlot, however, stressed that he has managed to keep his flock together and said that the Congress would have saild through the floor test even without the support of the 19 MLAs who had rebelled against him.

“We could have proved the majority even without these 19 MLAs but it would not have given us happiness. We will bring Vote of Confidence,” Gehlot said.

Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot were seen shaking hands and smiling at the Congress meeting signalling reconciliation between the two warring leaders. “We will fight against BJP’s bad politics,” senior leader KC Venugopal said after the meeting. 

Earlier in the day, Gehlot tweeted that there is a need to ‘forgive’ and ‘forget’ in the interest of democracy signalling a thaw in his relationship with Pilot after a month-long drama which saw him launching acerbic attacks on the former deputy CM on several occasions.

With the return of Team Sachin Pilot, the Congress now has a comfortable lead with 120 MLAs in the 200-seat Rajasthan Assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party has 75 MLAs.