Jaipur: After a four-hour long meeting with the Congress party's high command, the party's organisational general secretary, KC Venugopal, announced that Congress would fight the elections together in Rajasthan. Both Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot have agreed to abide by the decision of the party leadership, according to Venugopal.
"We have decided to fight elections unitedly. We will win the elections in Rajasthan. Both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have unanimously agreed with the proposal," said Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal after discussions between Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Gehlot, and Pilot in Delhi on Monday night.
Venugopal appeared before media after meeting
The meeting, which commenced around 6 pm at Mallikarjun Kharge's official residence, lasted approximately four hours. Following the meeting, Venugopal appeared before the media along with Gehlot, Sachin, and party in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. However, only Venugopal addressed the media and made a brief statement, claiming that both leaders had agreed to fight the election unitedly. When asked about the consensus formula, Venugopal did not provide any further details.
The body language of Gehlot and Sachin differed noticeably during Venugopal's media interaction. Gehlot appeared relaxed, while Sachin seemed a bit tense.
The meeting began with Kharge and Gehlot in the evening, and later Rahul Gandhi joined with Venugopal. After approximately two and a half hours of discussion, Sachin Pilot was summoned to the meeting. After an additional hour and a half of deliberation in his presence, the party issued a routine statement.
Sources indicate that the meeting did not yield any favorable outcome for dissident Sachin Pilot. It has been decided that the party will first contest the elections unitedly, following the model of Karnataka, and stand firmly with the party as winning the elections holds greater importance than anything else. All other issues will be addressed in due course.
All eyes are now on Sachin Pilot, who had raised three demands a fortnight ago and warned of a statewide agitation if the demands were not met. The deadline given by him is ending on May 31.
