Jaipur Rebellion Calls Gehlot’s Candidacy for Congress Chief into Question

GG News Bureau

Jaipur, 27^th Sept. The open rebellion by MLAs close to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has raised doubts on whether he will run for Congress president again, or whether someone else will replace him as a candidate supported by the current leadership.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi demanded a written report on the Rajasthan revolt from party observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken on Monday, as Ashok Gehlot’s chances of becoming party chief faded and other candidates emerged.

After returning to Delhi, Kharge and Maken, who were sent as observers to Jaipur for a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, briefed Gandhi on the parallel meeting held by Gehlot loyalists, which they called “indiscipline.”

They are expected to recommend disciplinary action against those responsible for the move, which include minister Shanti Dhariwal and Rajasthan Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi.

On Sunday evening, Gehlot loyalists submitted resignation letters to Assembly Speaker C P Joshi, putting pressure on the central leadership to appoint someone from the Gehlot camp as CM if the veteran leader is elected party president.

The loyalist MLAs expressed opposition to the appointment of Sachin Pilot, who led a rebellion against Gehlot in 2020.

On Monday, Gehlot supporter Dhariwal accused Maken, AICC in-charge of Rajasthan, of being involved in a plot to depose Gehlot as chief minister and of campaigning for Pilot.

Sonia Gandhi is said to be “upset” about the developments in Rajasthan because Gehlot was being considered as her successor for the top job. According to sources, Gehlot told the two observers that he is not behind the Jaipur development and that the MLAs involved are not listening to him.

Senior party leaders Kharge, Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Sushilkumar Shinde, Mukul Wasnik, and Kumari Selja’s names are also being floated for the position.

After meeting with Sonia Gandhi on Monday, Congress leader Kamal Nath ruled himself out as a candidate.

Kharge and Maken are expected to submit their report to Gandhi on the party’s state unit crisis by Wednesday.

After a nearly one-and-a-half-hour meeting with Gandhi, Maken told reporters on Monday that the CLP meeting was “unfortunate.”

During the meeting with Gandhi, AICC General Secretary-Organisation K C Venugopal was also present.

Maken accused the Gehlot loyalist MLAs of “indiscipline.”

“In the 75 years of Congress history, there has never been a conditional resolution. The resolution is one line only. Everything is told to the Congress president and then a decision is taken,” Maken told reporters in Jaipur.

“The resolution should not have any conflict of interest,” he said, adding that anyone contesting the election could become party president and then decide on the resolution.

He stated that Sonia Gandhi directed them to “speak to every MLA and submit a report, and then the Congress president would have taken a call after speaking to everyone.”

He stated that representatives from some MLAs came to them in Jaipur with three demands.

One of them was that the resolution would be decided after the organizational polls, and this should be included in the resolution.

In an indirect reference to CM Gehlot, Maken asked how is it possible that a person authorising the Congress chief to take a call on the next CM, himself takes a decision on it after winning the party election.

“If this is not conflict of interest, then what is,” he asked.

Maken said the MLAs loyal to Gehlot wanted to meet them in groups, and were told by him and Kharge that there was no precedent for this. One-on-one meetings are held during CLP meets so that MLAs can express themselves freely, he said.

Adding to the confusion, Congress chief whip in Rajasthan Assembly Mahesh Joshi stated that the party’s MLAs have no objection to whoever is appointed as chief minister, but the final decision of the high command must be acceptable to them.

“The doubts of the MLAs should be cleared by the high command and then whatever decision is taken will be accepted. We do not have any objection if anyone is made the chief minister but the final decision should have consensus,” Joshi said.

According to Congress sources, 82 MLAs loyal to Gehlot will hold another meeting to decide their next course of action. They say they want someone who supported the Congress government during Rajasthan’s political crisis in 2020 to be the next chief minister.

Pilot and 18 other party MLAs rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership in July 2020.

In the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress has 108 MLAs.