'Leaders Must Maintain Discipline': Congress' Advice To Gehlot, Pilot After Key Party Meet On Rajasthan Polls

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, and Sachin Pilot were among those present at the party's strategy meeting on election preparedness in Rajasthan.

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday asserted it can win the Rajasthan assembly elections provided there is unity and warned of strict action against those not maintaining discipline and speaking outside the party forum. The party, however, indicated it is unlikely that it will declare a chief ministerial face for the polls due later this year. The Congress claimed that it has resolved all issues while seeking to end talks of differences between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, who have often gone against each other in public.

Everyone is of the view that they need to work together to buck the trend of the ruling party being voted out of power in the state, it said.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal told reporters after the party's strategy meeting on election preparedness in Rajasthan that all leaders agreed that the Congress could win the assembly polls slated later this year provided there is complete unity.

He, however, refrained from commenting on any peace formula between Chief Minister Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.

"We never announce the chief ministerial candidate, but we will fight the election together and unitedly," Venugopal said when asked under whose leadership the party will contest the upcoming polls.

The party also said that it will decide its candidates for the state polls by the first week of September and winnability will be the only criterion for their selection. Congress leaders will also hit the ground from Friday through a house-to-house campaign to take schemes of the government to the people, it said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Randhawa, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Dotasra, Pilot and several MLAs and ministers from the state were present at the meeting. Gehlot, who is recovering from fractures in both his toes, is attending the meeting via video conferencing.

Sources said there was a frank discussion about the Congress' chances in the upcoming polls and the situation on the ground with a stress on selecting candidates on the basis of surveys keeping in mind the winnability factor.

They said Gandhi said that bureaucracy was dominant in the state and asserted that party workers should get their due in the government.

Venugopal said the meeting was a preparatory one about Rajasthan during which the party leadership took some important decisions about election management in the state and resolved all pending issues. "The Congress will fight unitedly, reverse the trend and repeat the Congress government in Rajasthan," he said.

"We are very sure that the Congress party will win in Rajasthan. The candidates' selection will be on winnability basis. We are holding several surveys to ascertain that. We will decide the party candidates in the first week of September," Venugopal said and termed the meeting as "very successful and fruitful".

Pilot expressed happiness that the AICC has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government, and asserted the party will contest assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.

The Congress government in Rajasthan is "serious" and will take action against all the corruption that has taken place under the BJP rule, he said.

On the campaign that will start on Friday, Venugopal said Congress MLAs, leaders, ground workers and ministers will engage with all communities and social groups during the next 90 days.

He said discussions will be held on the party manifesto as well as the achievements of the Congress government in Rajasthan. There will be greater emphasis on coordination between the party and the government, he asserted.

"The party has decided to have a completely positive campaign starting tomorrow. We have decided to engage with all groups about election manifesto in the coming 90 days. The party-government coordination will be strengthened," Venugopal said, adding that 29 leaders from Rajasthan participated in meeting, including the chief minister.

He said it was unanimously decided that "we have to win Rajasthan and we can win, provided there is unanimous unity in the Rajasthan Congress". Earlier there were differences but in today's meeting, all leaders said they will fight the elections with unity, the Congress leader noted.

"The party decided that today onwards everybody should follow strict discipline. Whatever issues that are there, they have to discuss them inside the party forum. Outside the party, nobody has the freedom to speak about inner party politics, whether it is against the government or against the party. If anybody speaks outside, then there will be strict disciplinary action," he said.

Venugopal said that all leaders are ready to fight the polls together and this is the message of the meeting.

"Everybody is confident that we are going to win Rajasthan. The BJP is, actually, totaly in a failure mode in Rajasthan. All issues are settled and resolved and we are going to win the elections," he said.

Asked if Congress MLAs were facing anti-incumbency in Rajasthan, Venugopal said, "Every party faces anti-incumbency, our party may also be facing some anti-incumbency. Our candidate selection will only be on winnability."

Noting that the government is working well in Rajasthan, he said its schemes are very good and work should be done to take them to the grassroots. This is why today's preparatory meeting was organised, the Congress leader said.

He said the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi created a positive atmosphere in the state and this will yield good results in Rajasthan, as it has shown in Karnataka.

"We are doing advance homework for election preparation," he said, asserting that the party's top leadership has held several rounds of meetings with leaders of all five states -- Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram -- going to the polls later this year.

The Congress leader said, "The election campaign will start soon. We are in full form to defeat the BJP."

Venugopal also announced that the Rajasthan government will soon bring a new legislation on reforms in the Rajasthan Public Service Commission. The government is keen to tackle the issue of question paper leaks, on which a new legislation will also come, he said. These were among the demands that Pilot had raised earlier.

He said Pilot also spoke very well and told the meeting that he is confident that "we will win in the state and the party will repeat its government there".

Pilot later said the party's lawmakers and functionaries in Rajasthan will work together to ensure its victory in the upcoming assembly polls. He also said it discussed ways on how to buck the trend of the state voting out incumbent governments.

Satisfied by the party's actions and assurances over the issues raised by him, Pilot also said he would abide by the decision of Kharge, Gandhi and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on what role he would play going forward.

He said he raised the issues of corruption of the previous BJP government in the state, paper leaks and Rajasthan Public Service Commission reform.

Pilot expressed satisfaction that the party leadership has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him as well as those relating to the youth, and has given appropriate directions. The Congress will raise the corruption matter as an election issue in Rajasthan, he said.

"There was a meaningful discussion on how to buck trend of voting out incumbent government in Rajasthan. We discussed all issues with an open mind and all expressed confidence that we can repeat the government in Rajasthan," the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister said.

"All issues were discussed with an open mind and I am happy to inform you that everyone expressed confidence that we will work hard over the next few months and repeat our government," he said.

The issues that are there in Rajasthan, the government has worked on them, and "we will take those policies and programmes to the ground", he said. The Congress organisation, leaders, MLAs and ministers "will work unitedly and our objective is to repeat our government in Rajasthan", Pilot said.