A group of Congress MLAs loyal to chief minister Ashok Gehlot went to the residence of Assembly speaker CP Joshi at Civil Lines in Jaipur to submit their resignation ahead of a crucial legislature party meeting that is scheduled to take place to pick his likely successor.
The development comes amid reports of Gehlot’s former deputy Sachin Pilot could replace him for the top post in the state after the former declared his candidature for the Congress president’s post.
Here is how the Congress’ never-ending internal rift remained on display over the past few hours:
– Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken, along with Gehlot, reached the chief minister’s residence where the Congress Legislature Party meeting was to be held earlier in the evening. Pilot also reached there separately.
– Late in the night, Maken said they were not going back to Delhi at the moment and would meet the MLAs later in the night. тАЬWe have been instructed by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi to conduct one on one talks with Rajasthan Congress MLAs. We’ll meet them tonight,тАЭ Maken was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
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– Meanwhile, a large group of MLAs loyal to the chief minister who held a meeting at Minister Shanti Dhariwal’s residence left for the speaker’s residence to submit their resignation.
тАЬAll the MLAs are angry and are resigning. We are going to the party president for that. The MLAs are upset how can CM Ashok Gehlot take a decision without consulting them,тАЭ state minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas earlier told reporters.
– Some of its MLAs said Gehlot’s successor should be someone who was instrumental in saving the government during the political crisis in 2020 and not someone who was involved in the bid to topple it, a veiled reference to Pilot. Another leader, Govind Ram Meghwal, said Gehlot can shoulder both roles, that of the chief minister as well as the party’s national president.
– Gehlot said earlier he has held constitutional posts for 40 years and the new generation should get a chance now.
– He further said a one-line resolution stating all Congress legislators have full faith in the party president’s decision on his successor is likely to be passed during the Legislature Party meeting on Sunday evening.
The Congress has 107 seats in the Rajasthan Assembly, including six MLAs from the BSP, who joined the grand old party in 2019. When Pilot rebelled in July 2020, the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister had the support of just 20 MLAs, and the numbers may not have increased much till now.
