Ahead of crucial meet, Gehlot loyalists raise concerns on Pilot as Rajasthan CM

Ahead of the Congress Legislature Party meeting on Sunday evening, MLAs considered close to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met under the leadership of Cabinet Minister Shanti Dhariwal in what is seen as a message to the high command to pick a Gehlot loyalist as his successor.

Gehlot is expected to quit as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan if he wins the election to the post of the Congress national president, as the party has a one-man one-post policy. The meeting is also seen as an attempt to thwart the possibility of senior party leader Sachin Pilot being made the next CM.

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Some participants 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 toppling it, a veiled reference to Pilot. Gehlot and Pilot were at loggerheads for the CM’s post soon after the Congress won the Assembly elections in December 2018. The high command then chose Gehlot as the CM for the third time while Pilot was made his deputy. In July 2020, Pilot along with 18 party MLAs rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership.

Hours before the Sunday meeting, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader and minister Subhash Garg raises concerns about Pilot as the next CM. He told news agency ANI: “Ashok Gehlot should be taken in loop (in deciding the next chief minister) so that we can again form the government in 2023. It’s regrettable how some people who broke discipline are considered for the post.”

“Everyone will accept whatever the Congress high command decides, but they should remember how two years ago, there was a conspiracy in alliance with BJP to topple the state government… they should keep in mind people who think along the lines of party ideology and keep unity,” the minister for technical education added.

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Further, he stated that nothing happens like in Punjab when the Congress lost power after in-fighting. “Hope nothing goes down as it did in Punjab. All these talks (of naming Sachin Pilot the CM) should happen if the CM is announced as the next party chief.”

In another report, Garg was quoted as saying that making Pilot the CM would weaken both the party and the government.

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“The move to hand over the command of the state to those who tried to topple the government two years ago will weaken both the party and the government. What about the 102 MLAs who saved the government?” Garg asked, according to an India Today report.

“The Congress high command should also take into consideration the feelings of those who left their homes to stay in hotels for two months to prevent the government from collapsing,” he added.

On Friday, Pilot had met Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi in his chamber in the state Assembly, where several party MLAs were also present.

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