Amid a leadership tussle in the Rajasthan unit of the Congress, the party on Monday said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot have agreed to fight the upcoming assembly elections unitedly and leave all issues to be resolved by the party high command. Have given.
The top Congress leadership, led by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, held marathon discussions with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot joined them in the evening.
State Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Randhawa was also present in the meeting.
The party tried to show that all is well in its Rajasthan unit, with sources claiming that the party has worked out a formula for the leaders of both the states to work together and fight the assembly polls unitedly.
Addressing reporters after the meeting at Kharge’s 10, Rajaji Marg residence, party general secretary KC Venugopal said the two leaders had a long discussion with Kharge and Gandhi about the upcoming Rajasthan elections.
“We have decided to fight the elections unitedly. Both are in agreement that the Congress party will have to work together and definitely we will win the elections in Rajasthan,” he said along with Gehlot and Pilot.
“It is very clear that Rajasthan is going to be a strong state for the Congress party. we are going to win. That’s why both Gehlot ji and Sachin ji have decided to go together. Venugopal said, the Congress party will fight the elections unitedly. He said, ‘Ashok ji and Sachin ji both the leaders agreed to the proposal on these things.’
Asked which resolution he was talking about, Venugopal said, “Both have left it to the (party) high command.” The high command will decide and both agree.
On whether the formula has been fixed, he said, ‘We have decided that both the leaders are ready to go together and it will be a joint fight against the BJP. We will win the state.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh later tweeted, “The Congress party is on course to replicate the success of Karnataka in Rajasthan as well.” Later in a tweet, Venugopal said, “Our team in Rajasthan will fight the 2023 elections unitedly and register a landslide victory, breaking the decades-old tradition of alternating governments!”
Pilot has been attacking the Gehlot government on the issue of inaction on alleged corruption during the previous BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje and has been vocal against the Chief Minister of his own party.
It was the first time after a long gap that the Rajasthan chief minister and his former deputy met face-to-face in the presence of the top party leadership.
Kharge and Gandhi are in talks with leaders of poll-bound states to chalk out the party’s strategy for the assembly polls and corner the BJP.
The party leadership is also working hard to iron out the infighting in the Rajasthan unit ahead of the assembly elections and patch up differences between the two leaders.
Top Congress leaders held discussions with top party leaders from Madhya Pradesh in the morning, after which Gandhi said the party would win 150 seats in the state.
The meeting comes just after Pilot’s “ultimatum” that he would launch a statewide agitation if the three demands made to the state government were not met by the end of this month.
One of Pilot’s demands was to initiate a high-level inquiry into the alleged scams during the Vasundhara Raje government.
Earlier talking to reporters, Gehlot said that there is no such tradition in the party that a post is offered to please a leader.
As far as I know, there is no such tradition in the Congress where a leader asks for something and the party high command offers that position. We have never heard of such a formula.
Rejecting such reports, he said, ‘This has never happened in Congress till now and will not happen in future. The Congress party and the high command are very strong and no leader or worker has the guts to demand any post. This does not happen.
Gehlot and Pilot have been fighting for power ever since the Congress formed the government in the state in 2018. In 2020, Pilot led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Gehlot government, following which he was removed from the posts of president and deputy chief of the party’s state unit. Minister.
Pilot had last month defied a party warning and went on a day-long fast, targeting Gehlot’s “inaction” over alleged corruption during the previous Raje government.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,