Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has not yet made it clear as to when he would quit the post of Chief Minister of Rajasthan once he gets elected as the President of the party.
While talking to the media, Gehlot says that he will strengthen Congress at the national level so that it can fight the communal forces. But he does not say even a single word about when he will resign as CM in the event of becoming the Congress president. He leaves it to Sonia Gandhi to take a call on this.
Meanwhile, after Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the party will follow “one person, one post”, the politics for a new CM in Rajasthan has heated up. Former PCC chief Sachin Pilot’s supporters added grist to the rumour mill saying that he is going to get the CM post. There was a strong buzz in the media about Sachin’s elevation as well. But nothing like that happened. Names of CP Joshi and BD Kalla also started doing the rounds.
Sources say that Gehlot will quit the post as per his convenience. Some say that he will continue till the Gujarat polls. There are speculations that he will step down after presenting the budget. Gehlot’s plan is to present such a budget that the party could use his pro-people schemes for the Lok Sabha polls.
Amid all these speculations, Gehlot was seen holding a meeting with Rahul Gandhi in Kochi. The CM visited Sai Baba Mandir at Shirdi. It is said he took blessings for the new responsibility that he will take over. PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra was also with him. Gehlot is said to have told the party MLAs that he will try to first persuade Rahul to accept the presidential post. If he does not agree, then he will fight the presidential poll.
Late evening, Gehlot returned to Jaipur from Shirdi. He said that he would file his nomination but did not disclose when he would do it. He said that Congress has internal democracy and the poll will take place accordingly. After the election, we will work to strengthen the organisation down to block level, he added. Gehlot’s body language signalled that his wish would writ large in Rajasthan.
Sachin Pilot has also reached Jaipur from Delhi amid the speculation that he will be given a chance. Sachin met Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi, and started reaching out to MLAs. However, the path ahead is not easy for him. But the rebellion led by Sachin against the Congress government in Rajasthan over two years ago is still fresh in the mind of the high command. The high command cannot forget the bid to topple the government with the help of rebels of the Congress.
What the high command is also cautious about is that the BJP is keenly waiting to exploit any such situation again. The arithmetic and equations do not favour Sachin. He does not fit in the caste equations. Moreover, the members of Rahul’s team like Jitendra Singh, Harish Choudhary and Raghu Sharma will also hardly support him. These leaders are also eyeing significant posts. Dotasra is also one of the leaders whose names are doing the rounds for CM post.
More importantly, the Gandhi family is not in a position to do the experiment like Punjab in Rajasthan. It seems the Gandhis will have no other option but to accept what the Gehlot decides at the end of the day.