Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot's Loyalist MLAs Threaten To Resign As Party Brass Deliberates On A Successor

Gehlot is believed to be the frontrunner to the post of Congress President, which would mean he would have to quit as Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Congress central observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge have reached Gehlot's residence to hold deliberations. Sachin Pilot has also reached there. About 25 legislators were present there, sources said.

A group of Congress MLAs loyal to Gehlot headed to the Rajasthan assembly speaker's residence to submit their resignation ahead of a legislature party meeting which was likely to pick his successor. The development suggested a worsening power struggle between Gehlot and Pilot, who was tipped to be Gehlot's replacement after he declared his candidature for the Congress president's post.

However, a large group of MLAs loyal to Gehlot, who held a meeting at Minister Shanti Dhariwal's residence, decided to go to Speaker C P Joshi's residence to submit their resignation.

"We are going to the speaker's residence in a bus and will submit our resignation," state minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas told reporters.

Sources claimed there were around 80 MLAs, including Independents, in the group. Some of its MLAs said Gehlot's successor should be someone who was instrumental in saving the government during the political crisis in 2020 and not someone who was involved in the bid to topple it, a veiled reference to Pilot, who had rebelled against Gehlot at the time.

Another leader, Govind Ram Meghwal, said Gehlot can shoulder both roles, that of the chief minister as well as the party's national president. 

Congress is about to have internal elections for the post of party chief and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have said they would not contest the elections. Under the one person-one post understanding, if Gehlot or anyone else is elected as the party chief, they would have to quit any other post they would be holding at the time of the election.

(With PTI inputs)