After Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken submitted their report to party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi on the rebellion in Rajasthan, the party issued show-cause notices against three Ashok Gehlot loyalists– minister Shanti Dhariwal, chief whip Mahesh Joshi and Dharmendra Rathore.
Congress said that charges against them are an act of “grave indiscipline” and sought their replies within 10 days as to why disciplinary action not be taken against them.
CM Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday held a meeting with some ministers and party MLAs in Jaipur. He also held a telephonic conversation with party interim president Sonia Gandhi.
The decision on Rajasthan CM’s position will be likely taken after Congress Presidential Elections next month, sources told media. Meanwhile, Congress sources have said that no disciplinary action will be taken against CM Ashok Gehlot as of now. Gehlot conveyed to the party’s high command that his MLAs have stopped listening to him and they didn’t keep him in loop.
Congress sources also said that Ashok Gehlot is being ruled out from the Congress’ president post and it is likely that Kumari Selja could be considered for the top post while Rahul Gandhi’s choice is said to be KC Venugopal, according to a report in IANS. However, no final decision has been made yet and Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath who met Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that he doesn’t want to become the party president and wants to continue to work for the party in Madhya Pradesh.
Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Monday ruled himself out as a probable candidate for the party’s presidency even as he stepped in to troubleshoot the ongoing crisis in the party’s Rajasthan unit. Kamal Nath, known to have close ties with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence after she held a more than an hour-long meeting with party observers for the state Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken.
The Congress high command had called Kamal Nath to Delhi. He is likely to play the role of a mediator and try to broker a truce in the state unit, which is reeling under a factional feud after a possible leadership change move turned into a full-blown crisis for the party. Asked if he was not interested in the post of Congress president, Kamal Nath told reporters, “I have no interest, I have come to Delhi for Navratri.” Earlier, Kharge and Maken briefed Gandhi regarding the developments in Rajasthan and will submit a written report about the crisis in the party’s state unit by tonight or tomorrow. They had met the party MLAs in the state to get a sense of the ground situation.
According to Maken, MLAs loyal to Gehlot have put forth demands, including that a decision on the chief ministerial face should be taken after the party president election on October 19 and in consultation with Gehlot. Talking to reporters, AICC in-charge for Rajasthan Maken said the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting was organised with the consent of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and termed the act of the MLAs loyal to him holding a parallel meeting as “indiscipline”.
Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken on Monday briefed party president Sonia Gandhi about the developments in Rajasthan and are expected to submit a written report about the crisis in the party’s state unit latest by Tuesday. Talking to reporters after a nearly one-and-a-half-hour-long meeting with Gandhi, AICC in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken said the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting was organised with the consent of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and termed the act of the MLAs loyal to him to hold a parallel meeting as “indiscipline”.
AICC General Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal was also present during the meeting. Maken said it was “unfortunate” that the CLP meeting could not be held.
There was a clear direction by the Congress president that “we speak to every MLA and submit a report, and then the Congress president would have taken a call after speaking to everyone”, he specified, adding this was made clear to everyone. The CLP meeting was called to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to take a decision on Gehlot’s successor.
But according to Maken, the representatives of the MLAs loyal to the chief minister put forward three conditions, including that the decision on the next chief minister would be taken by the new party president. “How is it possible that the person moving the resolution authorises the Congress president… that person wants to fight AICC president polls and if he wins the polls, he would decide on it? If this is not conflict of interest, what is?” he said in a reference to Gehlot.
Maken said the MLAs loyal to Gehlot wanted to meet in groups as opposed to the high command’s order to meet them separately, saying there was no precedent to such an act in the party. “In a CLP meet, one-on-one meeting is held so that they (MLAs) can express themselves freely. They also said the chief minister should be chosen from among those MLAs loyal to Ashok Gehlot in 2020, to which we said that we will convey their views to the Congress president, but no conditions can be attached to a resolution. We have given the briefing to Sonia ji and will give a written report,” he said.
“When a CLP meeting is held, holding a parallel meeting of MLAs is prima facie indiscipline,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)