Shielding Gehlot to keep Rajasthan. The Rajasthan crisis has added to the turbulent build-up to the October 17 Congress president polls. For the first time in more than two decades, a Gandhi is not in the contest. Disciplinary action has been advised against three of the MLAs -- chief whip Mahesh Joshi, RTDC chairman Dharmendra Pathak and Shanti Dhariwal, who hosted the parallel meeting of MLAs where they passed a resolution on the next Chief Minister.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, blamed by many Congress leaders for the rebellion of his loyalist MLAs, has been exonerated in the report submitted to party chief Sonia Gandhi. State in-charge Ajay Maken, who was present in Jaipur for Sunday’s drama and submitted the report, has advised action against three MLAs. The list includes chief whip Mahesh Joshi, RTDC chairman Dharmendra Pathak and Shanti Dhariwal, who hosted the parallel meeting of MLAs where they passed a resolution on the next Chief Minister.
At the meeting, the MLAs had raised the issue of Gehlot’s arch-rival Sachin Pilot’s rebellion in 2020. They passed a resolution saying the Chief Minister must be chosen from among those who supported the government at the time. They had threatened mass resignation to keep Pilot out of the top post.
They even defied Sonia Gandhi’s instructions, refusing to have one-on-one meetings with Central leaders, and coming up with a list of demands. It included a status quo till the next party chief is elected — which would empower Gehlot to pick his successor once he was named the Congress chief.
Before submitting the report, Maken had accused the MLAs of “indiscipline” and said their demand of status quo would lead to a conflict of interest.
The exemption of Gehlot comes amid efforts to resolve the situation in Rajasthan, which threatened to spin out of control on Sunday. A section of leaders are making efforts to reach out to him.
It is not clear though, whether Gehlot — front-runner for the post of the party president — is still in the race.
The Gandhis were said to be upset with the 71-year-old, a longtime loyalist of the family. Mrs Gandhi has not spoken to Gehlot yet, though some leaders said he might come to Delhi for a meeting with her.
Sources indicated that he might still file his nomination.
Gehlot, in his efforts to keep arch-rival Sachin Pilot out of the top job in Rajasthan, had declared that he could juggle both posts.
But the possibility was negated by Rahul Gandhi’s comment that the party will stick to the “One man one post rule”. The countermove came from Team Gehlot in the form of open rebellion.
The Congress has reached out to Ashok Gehlot to smooth things over after reports that the Gandhis were upset with him over a rebellion by more than 90 Rajasthan MLAs loyal to him.
Senior Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma, after a meeting with interim president Sonia Gandhi, spoke with Ashok Gehlot to “resolve the crisis that has been created”, sources said.
Ashok Gehlot will meet with Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon and three or four leaders loyal to him will be “cautioned” for their role in organising the rebellion, said the sources.
Ashok Gehlot, 71, is “still in contention for the post of Congress president and not ruled out”, top party sources told NDTV hours after reports said otherwise.
At the core of the rebellion is Gehlot’s refusal to give up the post of Rajasthan Chief Minister, which has annoyed the leadership. Mr Gehlot had agreed to quit as Chief Minister after Rahul Gandhi made it clear that he would not be allowed a double role, in line with the Congress’s “one person, one post” policy.
The transition in Rajasthan was to be formally announced at a meeting of MLAs at Gehlot’s home on Sunday. Only about 25 of 107 Congress MLAs showed up. Most MLAs attended a different meeting called by Shanti Dhariwal, a minister close to Gehlot. They later threatened to resign if Gehlot was replaced as Chief Minister by his rival Sachin Pilot, who rebelled in 2020 against him.
The MLAs openly defied the Gandhis and laid out conditions that included choosing a new Chief Minister only after the Congress president election. If Gehlot becomes Congress chief, that will constitute conflict of interest as he will have empowered himself to pick his own successor in Rajasthan.
Although three ministers close to him coordinated the rebellion, Gehlot denied any part in it, citing his visit to a shrine near the India-Pakistan border that morning where there was no phone reception. “Nothing is in my hands. The MLAs are angry,” he told the central leadership.
No one in Delhi believed that 92 MLAs could threaten mass resignation without Gehlot’s active support and encouragement. Though Gehlot has apologised, the Congress leadership has taken a “serious view” of indiscipline by one of its senior most leaders.
Sachin Pilot, whose supporters are outnumbered by Gehlot’s, reached Delhi this evening. It is not known yet whether he will meet with the leadership.
The Rajasthan crisis added to the turbulent build-up to the October 17 Congress president polls. For the first time in more than two decades, a Gandhi is not in the contest.
Courtesy NDTV