Shashi Tharoor, Priya Dutt express disappointment at Sachin Pilot leaving Congress

Several Congress leaders, including Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor and former MP Priya Dutt, on Tuesday, expressed disappointment at the removal of Sachin Pilot from the posts in the party and from the Rajasthan Cabinet.

Tharoor said that he considers Pilot to be "one of our best and brightest".

Meanwhile, Dutt said that along with the loss of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Congress had lost "two stalwarts young leaders with great potential."

"I am sad to see Sachin Pilot leave INC India. I consider him one of our best and brightest and wish it had not come to this. Instead of parting, he should have joined the effort to make the Party a better and more effective instrument for his, and our, dreams," Tharoor's tweet read.

Dutt also tweeted from her official Twitter handle, "Another friend leaves the party both Sachin and Jyotirajya were colleagues and good friends, unfortunately, our party has lost 2 stalwart young leaders with great potential. I don't believe being ambitious is wrong. They have worked hard through the most difficult times."

Further, Sanjay Jha too had hailed the contribution of Pilot in ensuring Congress' win in Rajasthan in the last Assembly elections and termed today's events as a loss for the party as a whole.

"For five years Sachin Pilot gave his blood, tears, toil and sweat for the Congress party between 2013-18. The Congress came back from a wretched 21 seats to 100. We just gave him a performance bonus. We are so meritocratic. We are so transparent," Jha had tweeted earlier in the day.

Jha, however, was suspended from the Congress, via a press release by the Maharashtra PCC chief Balasaheb Thorat, for "anti-party activities and breach of discipline".

Pilot, was removed as Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan PCC Chief, as announced by Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala today.

"Sachin Pilot, Vishvendra Singh, and Ramesh Meena have been removed from the posts of Deputy Chief Minister and Ministerial posts respectively. Sachin Pilot has also been removed as the Rajasthan PCC Chief," said Surjewala.

The Rajasthan Congress has been in turmoil over the past few days. While Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has blamed the BJP for attempting to destabilise the State government by poaching MLAs, Pilot had been camping in Delhi.

Pilot, on the other hand, has abstained from making any statement about his future course of action and simply tweeted thanking his supporters.

"My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all those who have come out in my support today. Ram Ram Sa," Pilot's tweet read.

( With inputs from ANI )