New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi for over two hours Wednesday, a day after he had told his MLAs in Jaipur that he was ready to contest the party’s presidential polls if Rahul Gandhi refuses to.
Saying that he would abide by whatever his party asks him to do, Gehlot had reportedly also asked his MLAs to join him in Delhi if he has to file nomination papers.
While the Rajasthan CM refused to divulge details of what happened inside Sonia’s residence, he reiterated, earlier in the day, his position that he will stand for the Congress’ top post if the party asks him to.
“If they (the party) ask me to fill the (nomination) form, I will not be able to refuse. I will consult my friends. I was given the responsibility of being Rajasthan CM and I’m fulfilling that responsibility. I will continue to do so,” said Gehlot outside Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The other top contender for Congress’ top post, MP Shashi Tharoor, also met the chairman of the party’s election authority, Madhusudan Mistry, Wednesday. According to sources, in a meeting with Tharoor Monday, Sonia had said that she’ll be “neutral” during the election process.
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Power struggle between Gehlot and Sachin Pilot
After his meeting with Sonia, Gehlot was slated to fly to Kochi to join the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and also make one last-ditch effort to convince Rahul to take up the post.
If Gehlot stands for Congress’ presidential post, it will have other repercussions. According to the party’s rules, a member cannot hold more than one post. This would mean that Gehlot will have to vacate his CM’s chair if he is elected as the Congress president.
This could also lead to a potential power struggle in Rajasthan between supporters of Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, his adversary within the party. Pilot, too, joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra Wednesday.
According to reports, Gehlot and his supporters are trying to work out an arrangement in which he can continue as the CM for at least some time after he’s elected as the party’s president.
‘Rahul will not be in Delhi to file nomination’
According to sources, Rahul is “obstinate” about not contesting the polls and has communicated the same to his close circle within the party.
However, 10 Congress state units have already passed resolutions stating they want Rahul to take over as the party president. The Gandhi scion had resigned from the post in 2019 after Congress’ crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections that year.
While speculations are rife that Rahul will be in Delhi by 23 September, a day before the nomination process begins, the party’s communication in-charge, Jairam Ramesh, Wednesday said that the Gandhi scion has no such plans.
“I don’t have any information of Rahul Gandhi going to Delhi. But if he goes, as you are saying, it will be on a rest day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and not to file nomination for the election, but to see his mother. He has not seen his mother for three weeks. But only if he goes. There is no such plan on the schedule,” Ramesh, who is in Kochi for the yatra, said.
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