Should've asked allies: Loyalists on Ashok Gehlot running for Congress chief

Amid speculation that Gehlot is also the Gandhis’ choice - even as Sonia Gandhi has made it clear that the family won’t endorse any candidate and that the polls will be neutral, loyalists of the Rajasthan chief minister are up in rebellion.

With the Congress presidential polls nearing, Ashok Gehlot’s loyalists are in rebellion mode in Rajasthan. The election to choose a chief of the grand old party is being held after almost 22 years and this time, two non-Gandhis are in the race for the top party post - Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor.

Amid speculation that Gehlot is also the Gandhis’ choice - even as Sonia Gandhi has made it clear that the family won’t endorse any candidate and that the polls will be neutral, loyalists of the Rajasthan chief minister are up in rebellion.

A close aide of Gehlot and a minister in the Rajasthan government, Dr Subhash Garg, is quite unhappy with the developments. Garg was appointed a minister of state from the Rashtriya Lok Dal quota.

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“The move to hand over the command of the state to those who tried to topple the government two years ago will weaken both the party and the government. What about the 102 MLAs who saved the government?” Garg asked.

“The Congress high command should also take into consideration the feelings of those who left their homes to stay in hotels for two months to prevent the government from collapsing,” he said.

“We cooperated to form the government. Allies should be asked. How can the government survive in the future? We should also think about it,” he added.