Cracks have begun to appear in Rajasthan Congress amid speculations of change of guard in the state after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot became the first person to announce his candidature for the AICC presidential poll.
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.
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.
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Advisor to the chief minister and independent MLA Sanyam Lodha said that everyone wants Gehlot to continue as chief minister and warned if he is replaced then the government might collapse.
Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said, "The name of the Chief Minister is decided by the party high command. Whatever will be decided by Sonia Gandhi will be accepted by all. I was with Gehlot ji from the very beginning in politics, I am a minister for the third time. The high command has always made (Ashok) Gehlot ji and I am with whomever the high command will make the CM."
Chief Minister's advisor and senior MLA Babulal Nagar said it is necessary that the 2023 assembly elections should be under Gehlot's leadership.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party will be held at Gehlot's residence in Jaipur at 7 pm on September 25. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed Mallikarjun Kharge as observer along with general secretary in-charge Rajasthan Ajay Maken. They will attend the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. This is the second CLP meeting within a week. The last meeting was held on September 20.
"There is a tradition in Congress from the beginning that whenever there's a Legislative party meeting for election or for choosing CM face we pass a one-line resolution to give rights to Congress president. This will happen today as well," CM Gehlot said ahead of the CLP meeting.It may be noted that 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. Pilot on Friday met Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi amid speculations of change of guard in the state.
Minister of State for Rural Development Rajendra Singh Gudha has called for Pilot to be made the chief minister and called him the "best face". "There is no other best face than Sachin Pilot in Congress. Whatever the high command will decide, it will be final but when it comes to my opinion, there is no better leader in Rajasthan than Pilot after Gehlot."
Besides Pilot, names of Speaker CP Joshi and Govind Singh Dotasra are also doing the rounds for the race in the Congress on who will be the next chief minister of Rajasthan.
(With PTI inputs)
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