Cong brass backs CM in latest flare-up in Gehlot-Pilot saga
Gehlot as party chief
Chances of Pilot getting the chief minister’s post brightened up ahead of the Congress presidential polls in October 2022 when then party chief Sonia Gandhi asked Ashok Gehlot to take up the top party job.
She then deployed AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and state in charge Ajay Maken in September to bring about a change of leadership in Rajasthan. As per the formula, Pilot was to be elected the new chief minister. However, the plan went horribly wrong when over 90 MLAs loyal to Gehlot revolted against the high command’s directive and held a parallel meeting where they slammed Pilot. These lawmakers were led by Gehlot’s aide Shanti Dhariwal who wanted the AICC observers to appoint someone from their own camp as the new chief minister, if Gehlot was to be removed.
Maken returned to Delhi without meeting the chief minister but Gehlot did get a chance to explain his position to Kharge. A miffed Sonia then sent show cause notices to three of Gehlot’s aides, Shanti Dhariwal, Mahesh Joshi and Dharmendra Rathore for instigating the lawmakers forcing Gehlot to say sorry and withdraw from the presidential race.
Sonia then asked Kharge to file his nomination against rival Shashi Tharoor. Kharge defeated Tharoor with a big margin and took charge as Congress president on October 26, 2022.
Soon, the entire party got busy with the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly polls and the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.
In November 2022, the Congress had opted for a status quo in Rajasthan till the Plenary Session in February 2023 was over. Maken was miffed that though the three state rebels had submitted their replies to the AICC disciplinary committee headed by veteran AK Antony, the new party chief had not taken any action in the matter. What further upset the Maken camp was that instead of facing any disciplinary action, the three state leaders were given the responsibility to manage the Bharat Jodo yatra, which entered Rajasthan in December 2022. This provoked Maken to resign, expressing his unwillingness to continue as state in charge.
Before Maken, Pilot too had flagged the issue saying any delay in deciding the case of indiscipline would not convey a good message across the party. However, no action could be taken as Gehlot was supervising the Gujarat polls.
When the yatra was still in Rajasthan, Kharge appointed Punjab leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as the new AICC in charge of the state. Rahul, who had a separate two-hour long meeting with both Gehlot and Pilot before leaving the state, had also pointed out that if the party was able to empower the local leaders and workers, winning the 2023 polls would be easy for the Congress.
