Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken on Monday said that party chief Sonia Gandhi has asked him and his colleague Mallikarjun Kharge to submit a written report about the crisis in Rajasthan that started after Ashok Gehlot hinted on Sunday that he would quit as chief minister, ANI reported.
The 71-year-old is running to be the next president of the Congress, for which elections will take place on October 17.
On Sunday, the Congress held a meeting to pass a resolution empowering the Congress president to pick Gehlot’s successor on behalf of the party leaders. However, very few MLAs turned up for the meeting. Later in the evening, supporters of Gehlot claimed that around 90 legislators submitted their resignations to Assembly Speaker CP Joshi amid speculation that Sachin Pilot could be appointed as the next chief minister.
Joshi is yet to decide on the resignations.
Meanwhile, the MLAs on Monday demanded that the Congress high command’s decision on the next Rajasthan chief minister should be unanimous, PTI reported.
Maken on Monday said he had met the MLAs in Jaipur before heading to Delhi with Kharge to meet Gandhi. He rebuked them for skipping the party’s legislature meeting, describing it as an act of indiscipline.
He added that Gehlot’s supporters have kept three demands, including passing a resolution to choose the next chief minister after the Congress president is elected on October 19.
“They insisted that the resolution be in line with three conditions, to which we said that never in the history of Congress has any resolution been passed with strings attached to it and which is conditional,” Maken told reporters. “There should be no conflict of interest”
Among other demands, the MLAs want Gehlot to have a say in choosing his successor and that the post should be given to an individual who stood by the chief minister when Pilot staged a revolt against the party in August 2020, triggering a political crisis, PTI reported, citing unidentified Congress members.
The turmoil, however, was resolved after the Congress had formed a three-member panel comprising Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal and Ahmed Patel to address Pilot’s concerns.
On Sunday evening, some Congress MLAs said they should have a say in picking Gehlot’s successor, according to The Indian Express.
“It is the unanimous decision of the MLAs that the high command should listen to us and take a decision,” Congress MLA Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said. “You could have called a meeting after 17th once the elections got over… CM [Gehlot] says that he is our abhibhavak [guardian], so won’t he give importance to MLAs?”
Independent MLA Sanyam Lodha also said that the next chief minister should be picked among those loyal to Gehlot.
“The next CM should be from among the 102 of us who were in Fairmont Hotel [during the 2020 crisis],” he said. “It is our unanimous decision that none among those who conspired with the BJP to topple the government can’t be the CM.”
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!