The Congress will not project a chief ministerial face for the Rajasthan Assembly polls scheduled for later this year.
A day after the party swept bypolls in the State, winning one Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats, Congress General Secretary Avinash Pandey, who handles Rajasthan, said the party will go to the polls under a “collective leadership.”
“We will have a collective leadership under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Unless we get majority, we cannot have a chief minister. So we will put a joint effort and our focus is strengthening the organisation from the booth level onwards,” Mr. Pandey said in an interview to The Hindu.
Gujarat or Punjab?
In November’s Gujarat elections — where the Congress put up its best performance in the past 35 years — many believe the absence of a chief ministerial candidate cost the party dear. A section of the party believes that elections are increasingly becoming presidential in character and voters want to know the leader in advance. In Punjab last year, the Congress had announced Captain Amarinder Singh as the chief ministerial candidate.
Fear of infighting
One reason for playing it safe in Rajasthan is the problem of plenty in terms of aspirants — the choice of one over others may further intensify factionalism.
Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot is seen as someone who has kept party workers busy, galvanised the organisation by continuously taking up issues against the Vasundhara Raje government and has strong appeal among the youth.
But former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who has been a two-term Chief Minister, is a seasoned administrator and had the image of being an approachable mass leader. Other contenders include leaders like C.P. Joshi, Namo Narayan Meena, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and Girija Vyas.
“We are all united under Mr. Gandhi’s leadership and every senior leader has been given tasks according to their strengths and interest,” Mr. Pandey said.
