Congress observer and Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken met party interim president Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening at her 10 Janpath residence in New Delhi amid a series of developments in Rajasthan, where a majority of the party MLAs have rebelled against Sachin Pilot and wanted Ashok Gehlot to continue as the chief minister.
After the meeting, Maken said that MLAs who are loyal to Ashok Gehlot want the next chief minister to be made from their camp. “We had a detailed meeting with the Congress president. She asked for a detailed report on the entire incident. The meeting was fixed as per the convenience of Gehlot. Sonia ji had told us very clearly to speak to MLAs on a one to one basis and to submit the report. It was decided that decision will be made in Delhi,” he said.
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The Congress observer, appointed by Sonia Gandhi, said the MLAs demanded that a resolution should be passed that whoever is the next congress president should decide the next CM.
“This was a clear case of conflict of interest. They wanted us to speak to MLAs in group. We never speak to MLAs in group we speak individually. They also wanted next CM to be from Gehlot camp. When party fixes MLA meet if parallel meet is organized then that attracts disciplinary action. Same had been told to Sonia ji,” he added.
Congress 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.
Rajasthan witnessed a high-level political drama on Sunday with some Congress MLAs from Ashok Gehlot camp resigning from their Assembly membership amid buzz that he is being replaced as the chief minister.
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A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party was scheduled to be held at Gehlot’s residence in Jaipur at 7 pm on September 25. However, ahead of the CLP meet, several Congress MLAs went to the residence of Assembly speaker CP Joshi in Jaipur on Sunday night. Some of them have submitted their resignations.
After announcing his bid for the Congress president poll, CM Gehlot had said that the call on his successor will be taken by Sonia Gandhi and general secretary in-charge Rajasthan Ajay Maken.
As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wants the commitment of “one-man, one-post”, which was adopted as part of the Udaipur Declaration, to be honoured, several ministers in the Rajasthan government and party MLAs have thrown their weight behind Gehlot while some have endorsed Sachin Pilot.
According to PTICongress sources said 82 MLAs loyal to Gehlot resigned on Sunday over a possible move to appoint Pilot as the next chief minister. The Congress has 108 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.
Gehlot and Pilot were at loggerheads over the chief minister’s post soon after the Congress won the 2018 Rajasthan Assembly polls. Pilot along with 18 party MLAs rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership in July 2020. Later, he was sacked as the deputy chief minister as well as the state PCC chief.
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