"Focus of party leadership focus is on Lok Sabha polls": Sachin Pilot

Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) [India], December 27 : Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said that the Congress has lost the Rajasthan assembly polls and that it is now eyeing the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Pilot was holding a poll campaign in the Karanpur constituency, which will go to bypolls on January 5, following the death of Congress candidate and sitting MLA, Gurmeet Singh Koonar.
"We did lose the Rajasthan assembly polls, but we are eyeing the Lok Sabha polls. I thank the party leadership for appointing me as the Chhattisgarh AICC incharge. I have been given such a significant responsibility and I will try to fulfil it," Pilot said while addressing the media.
"Soon, decisions will be made on the Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan. The decisions will be taken considering the Lok Sabha polls", he added.
In Rajasthan, the vote count painted a starkly different picture to what some of the pollsters had predicted, with the BJP poised to form the government, winning 115 seats, and the Congress trailing at 69 seats.
Responding to the claim that the Congress lost state assembly polls due to the "Pilot-Gehlot rift", he said, "Opposition parties make such comments but we fought the elections unitedly. However, the party leadership has taken note of our defeat and now, our focus is on the Lok Sabha polls. We will reach out to the public on issues such as inflation and unemployment."
Speaking on the suspension of 146 MPs from the parliament, Sachin Pilot said, "This government can suspend 146 MPs from the parliament but cannot take action on its MP who let those people in and cause the security breach. They want an opposition-free country, which we condemn. The public is seeing all of this. The public will give a befitting reply to the ruling party in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024".
A total of 146 MPs -- 100 from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha -- were suspended in the Winter session for creating a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses over their demand for a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 security breach incident.
Meanwhile, Sachin Pilot also spoke on the seat-sharing strategy of the INDIA bloc.
He said, "This is done by the screening committee. However, Rahulji and Khargeji are consistently working towards it. We have a pact with the INDIA alliance over seat-sharing. The right decision will be taken at the right time."
Till now, the INDIA bloc has held four meetings. The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The third meeting happened in Mumbai on August 31-September 1 and the fourth meeting was held on December 19 in the national capital.
Deliberations are yet to be made on the Prime Ministerial face for the mega alliance.