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After Cong chief poll, focus shifts to CM Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot`s clash in Rajasthan
The controversy erupted after 82 Congress MLAs in Rajasthan failed to attend an official legislature party meeting called to pass a resolution authorising the Congress chief to appoint a successor to Gehlot, who was then preparing to run for the Congress presidential election, and instead attended a parallel meeting at Gehlot loyalist Shanti Dhariwal`s Jaipur residence.
Highlights
- There’s a long-running difference between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot
- Gehlot and his former deputy Pilot separately met Mallikarjun Kharge after he was elected as the president of the Congress
- Gehlot slammed leaders such as Jyotiraditya Scindia, R P N Singh and Jitin Parsada, who left the Congress to join the BJP
New Delhi: With the Congress having elected its new president, the focus is now expected to shift to Rajasthan which has been witnessing long-running differences between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot on who gets to call the shots. Significantly, both Gehlot and his former deputy Pilot separately met Mallikarjun Kharge after he was elected as the president of the Congress, getting 7,897 votes against his rival Shashi Tharoor's 1,072. The tensions between Gehlot and Pilot seem to be simmering with the former earlier this week, saying that there is no substitute for experience at any level. Gehlot suggested that young leaders should have patience as they would get their chances when the time comes.
Though Gehlot slammed leaders such as Jyotiraditya Scindia, R P N Singh and Jitin Parsada, who left the Congress to join the BJP, as "opportunists" and pointed out that all of them became Union ministers at a young age, many saw it as a veiled swipe at Pilot. The Rajasthan infighting had played out in full public glare last month when Gehlot was set to enter the fray in the Congress presidential poll.
The matter had come to a head after 82 Congress MLAs in Rajasthan did not attend an official legislature party meeting convened for passing a resolution authorising the Congress chief to appoint a successor to Gehlot, who was then about to contest the Congress presidential election and participated in a parallel meeting at Gehlot loyalist Shanti Dhariwal's residence in Jaipur. While Gehlot has long been known as a loyalist to the first family of the country's oldest party, his position as the Gandhis' confidant is said to have been dented by the developments last month. Pilot, who had rebelled against Gehlot's leadership in 2020, is seen as an agent of change, just like Tharoor, who many say put up a spirited fight for the top Congress post but had fallen short when it came to winning the 'loyalty' tag