Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, along with AICC general secretary for Rajasthan Ajay Maken, was appointed observer by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to attend a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Rajasthan on Sunday evening to discuss a new chief ministerial candidate, party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal tweeted late on Saturday.
The meeting comes a day after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is contesting the Congress presidential polls, said his successor to head the Rajasthan government will be decided by Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Maken.
The party’s high command, including former party chief Rahul Gandhi, had made it clear that the “one man, one post” principle, adopted in the Udaipur Declaration, has to be followed. Sunday’s CLP meeting is likely to decide the next leader to succeed Mr. Gehlot as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
“Hon’ble Congress President has appointed Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge as Observer along with Sh. Ajay Maken,Gen. Secretary AICC, Incharge of Rajasthan, to attend the meeting of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly slated to be held on 25th September at 7 PM,” general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal tweeted late on Saturday.
In just 48 hours, the political equations in Jaipur have rapidly changed with legislators and Ministers supporting Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot making a beeline for the camp of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot. Mr. Pilot is one of the possible candidates to replace Mr. Gehlot, who is contesting the Congress presidential election. So far, the Congress leadership has not made any formal announcement. On Friday, Mr. Pilot, who joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kerala for a day, returned to Jaipur, after a quick stop in Delhi to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Since his arrival in the State capital, one of his first meetings was with Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi, whose name had been doing the rounds as a possible replacement for Mr. Gehlot. Cabinet Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and former MLA Raghu Sharma were present at the meeting.
One of the first to change his stance was Rural Development Minister Rajendra Gudha. “Now that Mr. Gehlot has now decided to become the Congress president, we will accept whoever the Delhi leadership chooses,” he said.
On Saturday morning, Mr. Pilot met Sheo MLA Ameen Khan and Dhod MLA Parasram Mordia at his residence in Jaipur. Both these MLAs are considered to be in the Gehlot camp.
The others from the Gehlot camp who reportedly met him include Congress MLA Girraj Malinga and Independent MLA Khushveer Jojawar.
These meetings assume importance against the backdrop of Mr. Gehlot’s insistence that his successor should be chosen after consultation with the Congress Legislature Party in Rajasthan. Mr. Pilot has gone out of his way to reach out to all those believed to be in the Gehlot camp.
Mr. Gehlot is expected to file his nomination on September 28 and the Pilot camp is hoping that he will simultaneously tender his resignation. After a snub from former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Gehlot is unlikely to insist on remaining in the post, though supporters of Mr. Pilot are not going all out with celebrations. “Till it is done, we can’t assume it is done. We will wait for the final announcement before beginning the celebrations,” an MLA close to Mr. Pilot said.
