Security personnel stand guard outside a hotel where Congress leaders and MLA are staying in Jaipur on July 16, 2020.

Security personnel stand guard outside a hotel where Congress leaders and MLA are staying in Jaipur on July 16, 2020.   | Photo Credit:
PTI


The Congress is said to have made it clear to Mr. Pilot that his rebellion would be treated as a “closed chapter” if he returns to the party fold.

Rebel Congress leader Sachin Pilot may have moved the Rajasthan High Court, but Congress president Sonia Gandhi has an open mind about accommodating him, a Congress leader told The Hindu on Thursday.

The same source claimed that former Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram and Mr. Pilot had a conversation over phone, where the former Finance Minister is reported to have asked Mr. Pilot to “seize the opportunity and discuss all issues”.

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The Congress is said to have made it clear to Mr. Pilot that his rebellion would be treated as a “closed chapter” and the legal challenge to the Speaker’s notice as a ‘technicality’ if he returns to the party fold.

“There would be no restoring status quo ante but he could be accommodated later on if he returns and stops hobnobbing with the BJP,” said the Congress source.

“From the choice of the lawyers who are defending him and his supporters, it is clear where his af