Rajasthan Congress lawmaker Ramniwas Gawriya on Monday attacked Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) chairman Dharmendra Rathore over his visit to his constituency, accusing Rathore of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gawriya’s sharp attack on Rathore, a close aide of chief minister Ashok Gehlot, is seen as a reflection of the continuing tension within the Congress between groups loyal to party leader Sachin Pilot and chief minister Gehlot.
The immediate provocation for Gawriya’s stinging swipe at Rathore was his visit to his constituency, the Parbatsar assembly segment in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan. Gawriya, a first-time legislator alleged that Rathore participated in an award programme at a hotel which was attended by several BJPleaders including former BJP MLA Mansingh Kinsaria.
Gawriya told reporters that Dharmendra Rathore owed his position in the tourism development corporation to flattery, not merit. “Rathore is not a mass leader. These people have become leaders by flattery. What difference is it going to make, if they go anywhere? If they have the ability, the party would have given them tickets,” the 31-year-old Congress leader loyal to Sachin Pilot said.
“We are loyal workers of the Congress and work for the party. Rathore comes to Parbatsar, and BJP workers follow him. He was roaming around with people from the BJP. We will take this matter to the high command. Those who served and indulged in flattery were made RTDC chairperson… What are they doing? Wherever they are going, they are damaging the party,” he said.
Rathore rebutted the charge, clarifying that he was in the area to attend a function by the Rajput community. “When it’s a community programme, then people from all the parties attend,” he said, adding that his other engagements were only attended by Congress workers.
Rathore was one of the three Ashok Gehlot loyalists to have been issued notice by the party for a parallel Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur on September 25 to block Sachin Pilot’s elevation as chief minister when Gehlot was expected to file his nomination as party president.
“Everyone knows how much damage they (Pilot loyalists) have caused to the party. They sat in the lap of the BJP government and tried to topple the Gehlot government. I am a Congress loyalist and will remain so,” Rathore added, a reference to the 2020 rebellion by Pilot and his loyalists against Gehlot.
The Gawriya-Rathore clash comes a month after the Rajasthan Congress witnessed political crisis with around 92 MLAs opposed to the CLP meeting to select Ashok Gehlot’s successor as chief minister. Later, Gehlot, who was reluctant to contest for the party president’s post, later took moral responsibility for the political crisis in the state.
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