The Congress will initiate the process of selection of candidates and strategy formulation for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the two-day meeting beginning here on Wednesday.
Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, screening committee chairperson Rajini Patil, member Pargat Singh and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will be attending the meeting. The meeting will discuss the reports from the coordinators who were deployed in 25 Lok Sabha seats for the assessment of the possible candidates for the upcoming general elections.
The meeting will also zero in on the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief and Leader of Opposition. Sources say that the high command may bet on new faces in Rajasthan. If all goes as per plan, Tikaram Jully, who is a close aide of senior Congress leader Jitendra Singh, will be the new PCC chief in Rajasthan, and Govind Singh Dotasra will be appointed Leader of Opposition. The Dy Leader post may be given to a Brahmin or tribal leader. The assembly session of Rajasthan is commencing on January 19, so the grand old party has to announce these names by then. Congress is aiming to strike a balance between SC and Jat communities. The BJP has bet on Brahmin faces. The BJP had to face defeat in Jat-dominated areas while Congress gained there.
The Jat community still seems to be backing Congress, as the BJP does not have any strong leader from this community. The Jat community is already upset with the saffron party following the removal of Satish Poonia as BJP’s state unit president.
However, the BJP tried to please the Jats by giving the vice president post to Jagdeep Dhankhar. However, it did not work in the assembly elections. The Jat community continued to be with the Congress due to Dotasra who was the PCC chief. Congress is ahead of the BJP in terms of politics of the ‘caste equation’.
The Rajasthan Youth Congress post has gone to the Bishnoi caste, while the NSUI chief post was given to Meghwal. Congress has made a good move in terms of balancing caste equations like this. Two-time MLA, Tikaram Jully was the minister in the Gehlot government. He will be considered a representative of Jitendra Singh if he is appointed PCC chief. Party wanted to give this post to Jitendra Singh but he was interested in central politics. Jitendra Singh is close to Gehlot and high command as well. It means the Congress’ politics will be Gehlot-centric only. Dotasra may continue to hold Bengal’s responsibility even if he is appointed LoP.