Congress leadership to hold crucial meeting tomorrow to reconcile Rajasthan factionalism ahead of polls

Following their triumph in the Karnataka elections, the Congress party is now turning its attention to Rajasthan. With an ongoing power struggle between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, the Congress leadership has scheduled a meeting in Delhi on Thursday.

Congress seeks to set house in order before polls

Considering the upcoming Assembly polls in Rajasthan, which is currently characterised by internal divisions within the Congress, this meeting is perceived as an effort by the party's high command to reconcile the two factions and restore harmony.

The anticipated meeting aims to evaluate and analyse the party's approach leading up to the elections in Rajasthan and is expected to be attended by both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.

Following Pilot's public ultimatum to the Gehlot-led state government earlier this month, internal sources within the party express concerns that the ongoing power struggle has been detrimental to the party's prospects in the upcoming elections in the desert state. It is widely believed that a swift resolution of the dispute would significantly benefit the party's interests.

Sachin Pilot's ultimatum

On May 15, Sachin Pilot took center stage, making a public demand for the Rajasthan government to meet three specific demands. He warned that if these demands were not fulfilled, the Gehlot administration would encounter widespread protests in the state.

"So far, I have been peaceful in putting forth my demands by doing symbolic fasts and taking out jan sangharsh padyatra but if, by the end of this month, the Gehlot government does not fulfill three demands that I have put forth, including providing compensation to all the students affected due to paper leak, disbanding RPSC and its reorganization and formation of high-level committee to investigate cases of corruption that surfaced during Vasundhara Raje regime, there will be agitation in the state," Sachin Pilot said.

Who will attend the meeting?

The meeting is expected to have the presence of Rajasthan's Congress in-charge, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, as well as the three co-in charges who were assigned to assess the on-ground situation in the state leading up to the Assembly polls earlier this year.

The co-in charges will present their findings to the Congress in-charge for Rajasthan, who will subsequently submit the report to party president Mallikarjun Khadge during the high-level meeting.