The crisis in Rajasthan Congress if one thinks is over with the swift election of Mallikarjun Kharge as the president of the party, it is a gross mistake.
Spreading open the wide crack within the state Congress, former deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot yesterday said that the praises by PM Narendra Modi for Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot should not only be read in a cordial way; rather there can be several subtle meanings.
In reference to Modi’s earlier praise for Kashmiri leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who left the Congress soon after, Pilot said, “It’s interesting that the PM praised the CM yesterday. It must not be taken lightly. Because the PM similarly praised Gulam Nabi Azad in the Parliament and we all saw what happened.”
Pilot’s statement comes in the backdrop of an event at Banswara, Rajasthan where the CM Ashok Gehlot and PM Modi shared the stage. While addressing the people, Modi said, “Ashok ji and I have worked together as chief ministers. He was the senior-most in our lot. He is still one of the senior-most chief ministers among those who are sitting on the stage right now.”
Pilot calls for Action
Sachin Pilot also asked the party leadership to end the silence over the notices sent to the three dissenters who on September 25 gathered 80 MLAs to stall the meeting of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) that was supposed to decide the successor of Gehlot, if he would have run for the presidential election.
“It's time now to end the climate of indecision in Rajasthan,” Pilot told the reporters in Himachal Pradesh where he is campaigning for the party.
Calling for action against the MLAs, he added, “Observers took the situation in Rajasthan seriously. The party has said it was indiscipline. Three MLAs got notices. There should now be action.”
Showing his faith on the new party president he continued, “Congress is an old party with the same rules for everyone, no matter how senior. I'm sure the new president, Mallikarjun Kharge, will decide soon.”
Notably, it was only after the indiscipline in the CLP meeting that Gehlot met Sonia Gandhi and apologised. It led to his withdrawal from the race making it a contest between octogenarian Kharge and Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor.
