New Delhi:

A video of around 15 MLAs sitting together has been released by the camp of Sachin Pilot, who is at the heart of the political crisis the Congress is facing in Rajasthan. The Deputy Chief Minister, who has openly rebelled against his party, yesterday claimed he has the support of 30 MLAs and that the Ashok Gehlot government is in minority.

Though Mr Pilot is not seen in the video, some of the MLAs could be seen facing the camera. Mr Pilot’s team has not disclosed the location where it was shot.

The 42-year-old, whose hostilities with his boss Mr Gehlot recently boiled over, was camping out in Delhi since Saturday. Unconfirmed reports said he visited Manesar in Haryana this morning.

The Congress initially said Mr Pilot has the support of 16 MLAs. This evening, they revised the figure to 10 or 12.  

In the morning, 12 Congress MLAs were missing from a meeting held in Jaipur by Mr Gehlot. After the meeting, the Congress estimated that Mr Gehlot’s government has the support of 106 MLAs.

While the number means a majority in the 200-member state assembly, it is a comedown from the 117 it had earlier.

Soon after, the party moved the MLAs to a resort to keep them out of the reach of the BJP, which it claimed, is trying bribe MLAs and engineer defections.

Mr Pilot’s aides have not denied a dialogue with the BJP, though they said the negotiations are not active. Mr Pilot, however, denied reports of an impending switch.

The BJP, which formed governments in states like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh following largescale defections, has denied that any talks with Mr Pilot have taken place.

Today, its senior leader and Union minister Uma Bharti, however, issued an open invitation to Mr Pilot, saying “Both Sachin and Jyotiraditya Scindia are like my nephews. If Sachin comes here (in the BJP) we will be very happy”.

In March, Jyotiraditya Scindia had switched sides with 22 MLAs, bringing down the Congress government led by Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh.