Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 27: The Congress high command has not blamed the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for the current crisis but has served show cause notices to three of his close associates for the rebellion and defiance of the AICC observers.
The ‘crisis’ began when more than 90 Congress MLAs loyal to Gehlot refused to attend a legislature party meeting on Sunday convened by the AICC observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge apparently to adopt a one line resolution to empower the party national president Sonia Gandhi to select Gehlot’s successor before he filed his nomination for election for the post of the Congress president.
The Gehlot loyalists instead assembled at the residence of the minister Shantilal Dhariwal and decided to resign en masse if Gehlot’s bete noir Sachin Pilot was selected as his successor. The Gehlot loyalist MLAs are against Sachin Pilot as the next CM, even if Gehlot vacates the seat and confirms his bid for the Congress top post.
This led to a standoff between the Congress leadership and Gehlot loyalists, with party high command seeking a report from its party observers, Kharge and Maken.
The observers’, in their report said Gehlot was not responsible but recommended disciplinary action against prominent leaders who called a parallel meeting.
According to sources, the report has recommended action against minister Shanti Dhariwal, chief whip Mahesh Joshi and MLA Dharmendra Rathod. Observer Ajay Maken had called termed their move “indiscipline”.
The two observers had to return from Jaipur without holding the CLP meeting as a large group of MLAs considered loyal to Chief Minister Gehlot refused to join it and put forth certain conditions for the selection of Gehlot’s successor.
In a bid to placate the “unhappy” high command, the Gehlot loyalist minister PS Khachariyawas on Tuesday said the party observers should have waited for a while to hear out all the MLAs. “MLAs are ready for a one-on-one conversation. This is democracy. Do you think we will refuse to hold one-on-one talks with observers? The observers came and we had a family discussion,” he said.
“Sonia Gandhi is like a mother to all Congress workers. Rahul Gandhi is walking 1,000 kilometres to save the party. The Congress is not going to be weakened. We are not against any member of the Gandhi family,” he added.
The Gandhis were reportedly upset with the developments and took note of the “indiscipline”. Gehlot loyalists were adopting a wait and watch approach to find out about the ‘adverse action’ taken by the high command. It is clear now that the party observers have given Gehlot a clean chit, MLAs considered loyal to him might face disciplinary action and focus might soon shift to the Congress president poll.
