New Delhi, September 26
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.
“Kharge ji and I have apprised the Congress president of the CLP meeting in Rajasthan. The Congress president has sought a written report on the entire chronology, which we will submit by late night or tomorrow,” he said.
The senior leader said the Congress president had asked the observers to meet all MLAs separately.
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.
Party observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken, who were sent to Rajasthan, returned to Delhi on Monday after a planned meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) failed to take place. They met Gandhi at her residence soon after their return from Jaipur.
The high drama has also put a question mark on whether Gehlot would still run for the party president’s post or someone else would replace him as a candidate supported by the current leadership. Gehlot has maintained that the “one man, one post” formula does not apply to him as the Congress presidential poll is an internal affair.
Earlier, Maken said he and Kharge kept waiting for the party MLAs in Jaipur on Sunday night but they did not turn up.
Senior party leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath is also expected to reach New Delhi to meet Gandhi. Nath, who is the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief, is known to have close ties with Gehlot and could be asked to broker a truce.
AICC general secretary, organisation K C Venugopal arrived at Gandhi’s residence to discuss the situation arising in Rajasthan after a virtual revolt by a majority of the party MLAs. Former leader of opposition in Rajasthan Rameswar Dudy also met Gandhi amid the developments.
The political drama in Rajasthan over a possible leadership change continued on Monday with the MLAs loyal to Gehlot refraining from separately meeting Kharge and Maken. They held a parallel meeting in favour of Gehlot remaining as the chief minister and put forth a series of demands.
Pilot, who is seen to be the main contender for the chief minister’s post if Gehlot is elected as the Congress president, is also expected to meet the party high-command amid the developments.
Congress sources said 82 MLAs loyal to Gehlot, who resigned on Sunday over a possible move to appoint Pilot as the next chief minister, are likely to hold a meeting on Monday to decide their next course of action.
The Congress has 108 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.
Kharge and Maken, who waited in vain for all the MLAs to arrive for the CLP meeting on Sunday, were trying to persuade the Gehlot loyalists to meet them one by one, in an effort to defuse the political crisis.
However, several MLAs have left for their respective constituencies in view of the Navratri festival, the sources said.
Maken slammed the Gehlot loyalists for setting conditions for a party resolution, terming it a “conflict of interest”, and said their decision to hold a parallel meeting amounted to indiscipline.
“In the 75 years of the Congress’s history, there has never been a conditional resolution. A resolution is only a one-line document. Everything is told to the Congress president and then a decision is taken,” Maken told reporters in Jaipur.
“A resolution should not have any conflict of interest. Those who are contesting elections and tomorrow, might become the party president, if they get to decide on the resolution, it is a conflict of interest. So, it is wrong,” he said, without naming Gehlot.
Rajasthan ministers Shanti Dhariwal, Mahesh Joshi and Pratap Singh Khachariyawas met Kharge and Maken at the chief minister’s residence in Jaipur on Sunday night to convey the message of the Gehlot loyalists to them.
Maken said the delegation put forward three conditions—a decision on the selection of the chief minister should be taken after the Congress presidential poll, the chief minister should be from among those MLAs who stood with the government during the political crisis in 2020 and not from the Pilot camp, and the AICC observers should hold meetings in groups, instead of one-on-one as sought by the high-command.
“We will listen to everyone. No decision is being taken. Whatever you will say will be conveyed to Delhi…. We have directions to hold one-on-one meetings with the MLAs so that they speak frankly,” Maken had told the legislators.
“If a decision is not taken keeping the MLAs’ sentiments in mind, the government will be in danger,” Independent legislator and advisor to the chief minister Sanyam Lodha had said.
The Gehlot loyalists said they have told Kharge and Maken that any decision on the next chief minister should be taken after the party’s presidential election on October 19 and in consultation with Gehlot.
They also want someone to the top post who stood with the Congress government during a political crisis in Rajasthan in 2020.
The aborted CLP meeting was seen as a crucial step ahead of Gehlot filing his nomination for the Congress president’s post, amid speculation that former deputy chief minister Pilot will take his place in the state.
Gehlot and Pilot were at loggerheads over the chief minister’s post soon after the Congress won the 2018 Rajasthan Assembly polls.
In July 2020, Pilot, along with 18 party MLAs, had rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership.
