Jaipur (PTI): Cornering his own government in Rajasthan, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday said his fast was intended to give a fillip to the party’s countrywide movement against graft being spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi.

Pilot observed a daylong fast at the Martyr’s Memorial here demanding action from the party’s government in the state over cases of alleged corruption during the BJP’s term, ignoring warnings by the Congress central leadership that the move just months ahead of the assembly polls is “anti-party activity”.

The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister spoke to reporters after ending the fast at 4 pm.

On Congress Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s remark that any issue with the government can be discussed at party forums, Pilot said, “If it was an issue with the organisation, I would have definitely raised it within the organisation but it is related to the government.” He also tried to link his agitation with the party’s campaign against the BJP government at the Centre.

“On which issue have Rahul ji, the Congress party and all opposition parties shown unity? They have shown unity on the issue of corruption. Financial irregularities have happened on a large scale and the entire opposition has united against this,” he said when asked to comment on Gandhi’s “fight against corruption”.

Pilot also said, “I hope that the ‘anshan’ I observed today against corruption will speed up our movement in the country that action should be taken against corruption.” He said he has been raising the issue of corruption by the former BJP government in Rajasthan and demanding action against it, as promised to the people during the last assembly elections (in 2018) when the Congress was in opposition.

The Congress leader added that he had written two letters on this issue to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot last year but received no reply. “We had assured people that effective action will be taken against corruption by the former BJP government. I wanted the Congress government to take action but it has not happened in over four years,” Pilot said.

“We are serious on the corruption issue… If we have zero tolerance towards corruption, we should take action. The entire country is against corruption,” he said, adding that his struggle against corruption would continue.

Pilot said the Congress has been exposing corruption in BJP-ruled states, be it in Karnataka or during the Himachal Pradesh and the Gujarat assembly elections. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party have raised the corruption issue inside and outside Parliament, he added.

Pilot also stressed that the topic of corruption is discussed everywhere, including in party meetings, adding that he wants politics to be clean in the country and the state.