New Delhi/Jaipur: In a major blow to Ashok Gehlot some Congress Working Committee members have urged Sonia Gandhi to pull the Rajasthan Chief Minister out of the party president race.
Congress Party President election is scheduled to be held on October 17, 2022. Ashok Gehlot is widely seen as the next Congress President after Rahul Gandhi said no one from his party is contesting for the top party post.
Gehlot, a Gandhi loyalist, initially wanted to continue to hold the Rajasthan CM post as well as the post of party president. He however changed his stance after Rahul Gandhi reminded him the party’s policy of “one person, one post”.
Gehlot’s changed stance cleared way for Sachin Pilot to take over as new Chief Minister in Rajasthan.
Things however changed late in the evening Sunday when as many as 90 MLAs loyal to Gehlot threatened to quit if Pilot is made Chief Minister.
Embarrassed and shocked, the party leadership asked party observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge to hold one-o-one meeting with the “upset” MLAs. None of them however turned up for the meeting.
This further embarrassed the party. The general perception is that the rebellion by the MLAs could not be without the backing of Gehlot.
The embarrassing development, coming at the time Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is garnering a huge support for the party, led to a number of CWC members asking Sonia Gandhi to pull Gehlot out of the party president race.
"It would not be good to lay faith in him and give him the responsibility of the party. The party top leadership should reconsider his candidature”, news agency ANI quoted the CWC members as saying.
Meanwhile, party observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge, said that the MLAs' action amounted to indiscipline.
The two said that what emerged from the Gehlot camp's defiance 'could be termed as indiscipline'.
"Yes, this is indiscipline, when one official meeting has been called and parallel to it another meeting is called, then it is termed as indiscipline... We will see what action will be taken against it," said Maken, who is also Rajasthan in-charge of the Congress, to the mediapersons.
He further said:
"No one knows how many MLAs were there (at Shanti Dhariwal or C.P. Joshi's residence) and how many of them have tendered their resignations, but we will evaluate these facts later."
The two observers are likely to return to Delhi on Monday afternoon.
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