Amid Rajasthan political crisis, Kapil Sibal says he is worried for party

After Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of trying to topple his government, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday was the first to go public on the crisis saying he he was worried for the party.

Seeking a quick resolution of the "crisis", he asked when would the party leadership "wake up".

"Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables," he said on Twitter.

Sources said a crisis is brewing within the Rajasthan Congress with deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and his supporting MLAs not sharing good ties with Chief Minister Gehlot.

The flash point between the two top leaders in Rajasthan was a probe ordered by the state police into "poaching" of MLAs and a notice sent to Pilot, which has not gone well with him.

The Rajasthan police has issued notices to Gehlot and his deputy Pilot to record their statement in connection with the alleged attempts to topple their Congress government, sources said on Saturday.

The police's special operations group (SOG) also sent a notice to Government Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi to record his statement, they said.

The move came after the SOG on Friday registered an FIR against two people, who have been detained, for their alleged involvement in horse trading of Congress MLAs for toppling the Gehlot government.

Gehlot on Saturday accused the opposition BJP of trying to topple his government by offering his legislators large sums of money and said his administration is not just stable but will complete its five-year term.

The BJP had asked Gehlot to prove his allegation of horse-trading levelled against it or quit politics, and claimed he was targeting the opposition party as he was unable the check the infighting in the state Congress.