Alwar Rural MLA Tika Ram Jully was on Tuesday appointed the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in Rajasthan, while Govind Singh Dotasra will continue as the Pradesh Congress Committee president. The Opposition Congress made Mr. Jully’s appointment one-and-a-half months after its defeat in the 2023 State Assembly election.
Mr. Jully, 43, was the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment in the previous Congress government. The three-time legislator from the Assembly seat reserved for Scheduled Castes is considered close to former Union Minister Jitendra Singh, belonging to the erstwhile royal family of Alwar, who had supported the then Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during a political crisis in July 2020.
Hailing from eastern Rajasthan which has emerged as the new power centre, Mr. Jully is expected to pose a challenge to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma in the Assembly on the public issues raised by Congress. Mr. Sharma, elected on the BJP’s ticket from Jaipur’s Sanganer constituency, belongs to Atari village in Bharatpur district’s Nadbai tehsil.
An official communication from AICC general secretary K. C. Venugopal said the Congress president had approved the proposal for Mr. Jully’s appointment as the CLP leader with immediate effect. Mr. Jully’s nomination for the post amid competition with Narendra Budania, Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya and Murari Lal Meena indicates the party’s strategy to bring young leaders to the helm.
Mr. Venugopal’s communication said the Congress president had also approved the proposal for the continuation of Mr. Dotasra as the Pradesh Congress chief. The decision was perceived here as a reflection of the Congress high command’s faith in the Jat leader following the party’s victory in the postponed election in Karanpur earlier this month.
Mr. Dotasra, who served as the Minister of State for Education in the Ashok Gehlot government, was appointed the PCC president in 2020 after the rebellion staged by Congress leader Sachin Pilot. He was elected an MLA for the fourth straight term from Sikar district’s Lachhmangarh seat in 2023.
