Ashok Gehlot out of Congress prez race, Sonia Gandhi awaits written report on Rajasthan crisis | 10 points
India Today
Congress vs Congress tussle in Rajasthan intensified after the Gehlot camp accused Ajay Maken of being involved in a conspiracy to replace Ashok Gehlot as the chief minister. Sonia Gandhi, who is upset with the developments, is likely to take action after going through a written report from Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge on the current crisis.
After two days of unrelenting drama in Rajasthan and a slew of meetings at 10 Janpath, the Congress high command has decided to maintain the status quo in the state till the nomination process for party chief polls is over (September 30).
Ashok Gehlot, a frontrunner for the party top post just days ago, is now out of the race and is likely to continue as Rajasthan chief minister for now after over 80 MLAs threatened to resign if Gehlot is replaced by his "rival," Sachin Pilot.
However, Gehlot loyalist Shanti Kumar Dhariwal has accused Ajay Maken, AICC in-charge for Rajasthan, of being involved in a conspiracy to remove Gehlot as chief minister and alleged he was canvassing for Pilot.
Gehlot loyalist MLAs have indicated that they were against the appointment of Sachin Pilot, who led a rebellion against Gehlot in 2020, to the CM post.
1) Rajasthan MLA Shanti Kumar Dhariwal has accused Ajay Maken, one of the central observers Sonia Gandhi sent to quell the crisis, of being involved in a deep conspiracy to oust Ashok Gehlot from the CM post and bring in Sachin Pilot. Dhariwal was the one who hosted the parallel meeting of MLAs minutes before the crisis blew out in the open.
READ | Rajasthan crisis: Five mistakes Congress made in the Gehlot-Pilot saga
2) On Sunday, over 80 MLAs skipped the scheduled Legislature party meeting where a successor to Ashok Gehlot was to be named. Instead, they went to meet the Speaker, threatening mass resignation and refused to have one-on-one meetings with the Central leaders -- Ajay Maken and Mallikharjun Kharge -- sent by Sonia Gandhi.
