Today, Ashok Gehlot expressed his regret to Sonia Gandhi and announced that he would not run for president of the Congress, accepting “moral responsibility” for the uprising in Rajasthan. Sonia Gandhi will decide “in a day or two” whether he will continue to serve as chief minister, according to the Congress.
With his abject apology and an election next year, Ashok Gehlot may just hold on to his post despite a major, embarrassing mutiny that would not have been possible without his assistance. In response to concerns that Gehlot would lose the Rajasthan seat to his opponent Sachin Pilot if he campaigned for Congress president, more than 90 MLAs threatened a mass resignation. This evening, Sachin Pilot met with Sonia Gandhi.
With Ashok Gehlot’s withdrawal, a third candidate for Congress president who has the Gandhis’ support could be announced soon. The first non-Gandhi Congress election in more than 20 years has a nomination deadline of tomorrow.
The election on October 17 appears to be between Digvijaya Singh and Shashi Tharoor at this point. Tomorrow, both will submit their nominations.
Digvijaya Singh met Shashi Tharoor after declaring his intention to run for office. Sharing a photo of the two hugging, Tharoor tweeted: “I welcome his candidacy for the Presidency of our Party. We both agreed that ours is not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest among colleagues. All we both want is that whoever prevails, Congress will win!”
Prior to the mutiny by his supporter Congress MLAs in Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot was seen to be the Gandhis’ top candidate to lead the Congress. The MLAs declared that they would not accept Sachin Pilot as Gehlot’s replacement because he had revolted against him in 2020.
The MLAs presented their demands to Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge, two central leaders who, in a report to Sonia Gandhi, called the revolt “severe indiscipline.” Within ten days, three ministers close to Gehlot were asked to describe how they helped plan the uprising.
Before running for Congress president, Gehlot was asked to resign as Chief Minister of Rajasthan by the Congress. He was also instructed to respect the leadership’s decision regarding his replacement in Rajasthan.
Even though Gehlot was standing for party leader, he wanted to preserve his job in Rajasthan. Last week, Rahul Gandhi made it plain that this was not conceivable since the party will uphold its commitment to “one person, one post.”
This evening, Sachin Pilot met with Sonia Gandhi. Sachin Pilot has been patiently waiting for his opportunity to lead Rajasthan.
Also Read: https://clipper28.com/en/new-delhi-mumbais-cst-ahmedabad-stations-up-for-makeover/