After Congress Working Committee members demanded from Sonia Gandhi to pull Ashok Gehlot from the elections for party presidential, the Rajasthan Chief Minister may not file the nomination for the Congress presidential election, claim media reports.
According to CNBC-TV18, Ashok Gehlot has been removed from the race for Congress president as the top brass is not keen on him.
Gehlot supporters threat to resign:
More than 90 Congress MLAs loyal to Gehlot have threatened to resign, while demanding that the new CM face be picked from their group as Sachin Pilot is being seen as the successor of Gehlot. The Gehlot loyalists want someone from their own camp to be chosen as the next Chief Minister, instead of Pilot, who, according to them, had revolted against his own party back in 2020.
Gehlot meets Mallikarjun Kharge:
Meanwhile, Gehlot today met with the observer for the state and senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge amid the ongoing political crisis.
After the meeting, Kharge said that there should be discipline in the party and the party has to be kept united.
"We have informed the Congress president about what happened yesterday. Everybody has to abide by whatever decision is taken eventually. We have to keep the party united. There should be discipline in the party," he said.
The remarks regarding the discipline come in line with the statement of Ajay Maken, another observer for the state, who termed the "parallel" meeting called by state Minister Shanti Dhariwal at his residence on Sunday an "undisciplined move".
While Gehlot loyalist and state cabinet Minister Pratap Khachariyawas said that the Congress workers are attempting to save their party and have to be prepared to "spill blood on the roads" against the BJP which he alleged, wants to "topple" the state government.
Kamal Nath deployed:
To defuse the ongoing crisis, Congress high command has asked Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath to immediately come to Delhi. Following the crisis, Kamal Nath is likely to mediate.
BJP takes a dig at Congress:
Taking a dig at the grand old party over political crisis, Rajasthan BJP leader Satish Poonia said that none of the Congress leaders want to be the party's national president and prefer to be a state chief minister or a regional leader.
"This drama of 'Kisa Kursi Ka' ( the tale of CM's chair) started in Rajasthan in 2018 when slogans for Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were raised. It then continued for portfolio allocation and then for rooms in the secretariat in Jaipur," Poonia said adding that throughout the entire episode, the people of the state suffered.
(with agency inputs)
