Jaipur: The BJP has renewed its attack on PCC chief Sachin Pilot after he emerged as the most preferred choice for the post of chief minister in Rajasthan. Panchayat Raj minister Rajendra Singh Rathore called him an ‘outsider’ to Rajasthan.

The dramatic turnaround in Mr. Pilot’s position Vis a Vis Ms. Raje seemed to have touched a raw nerve of the BJP, which has made her its CM face despite reports that she was not as popular as perceived whereas Mr. Pilot whom she described ‘novice’ is fast gaining ground.

The two opinion polls  — the ABP-C Voter survey and C fore  — two days ago separately suggested that Mr. Pilot is preferred choice of 36 per cent in and 32 per cent, respectively, followed by chief minister Vasundhara Raje and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot who is considered man challenger to Mr. Pilot within the party.

While, the ABP-C Voter survey involving 26196 people was conducted in three poll bound states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatt-isgarh; the C fore survey of 5788 voters was restricted to Rajasthan. Only last month, India Today-Axis My India Poll, placed Mr. Pilot was way behind Ms. Raje and Mr. Gehlot who were tied at 35 per cent. Then, mere 11 per cent said to have mentioned him as their choice as the chief minister.

In contrast, Ms. Raje’s rating has dropped by eight points to 27 per cent while Mr. Gehlot is now at third spot with 24 per cent, which is decline of 11 per cent.

That Mr. Pilot was gaining popularity and the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate saw him as bigger threat than veteran Mr. Gehlot was evident when she opened front against him for the first time in five years. She called him ‘novice’.

Now, her close confident, Rajendra Rathore raised question about Mr. Pilot’s domicile. “Pilot does not belong to Rajasthan. He is from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh,” he said adding that Mr. Pilot who could not win Lok Sabha election is now dreaming of becoming CM.