Kharge, Rahul meet Gehlot amid rumblings in Congress’ Rajasthan unit

New Delhi, May 29 (IANS) Amid the crisis in the party’s Rajasthan unit, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday was holding a crucial meeting with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who asserted that he had never seen the tradition in the party that someone is asked by the high command about a post he wants or is offered one to pacify him.

Gehlot arrived at the residence of Kharge here at the 10 Rajaji Marg, and soon after him, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa too reached for the meeting.

According to sources, the party leaders are set to decide on the crisis in the state leadership where Gehlot and his former Deputy Sachin Pilot have opened a front against each other.

A source said that beside working on bringing the two warring leaders together the party leadership will also try to chalk out the strategy for the upcoming Assembly election in the desert state.

Meanwhile, Pilot is too set to have a meeting with Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. However, it is yet not clear if Pilot will be meeting the party leadership separately.

Earlier in the day, after arriving in the national capital and speaking to media at the airport here, Gehlot when asked about various formulas being speculated around him and party leader Pilot, said: “Never in my life have I seen a tradition in Congress that a leader demands something or high command asks him what post he wants.”

Rubbbishing such reports, he said that these are only the creation of the media and some leaders may be getting such stories planted.

“High Command and Congress party are so strong that such a situation will not arise that you are making an offer to pacify someone. It has never happened, it will never happen…” he added.

The meeting comes close on the heels of Pilot’s “ultimatum” that if three demands he made from the state government were not met by the end of this month then he would launch a state-wide agitation.

Pilot has also asked for a high-level inquiry into the alleged scams that took place during the tenure of the former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje government, as one of his many demands.

The Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee has been in a state of turmoil since July 2020, when Pilot staged a revolt seeking a leadership change in the state.

Following the revolt, Pilot, who was the Deputy Chief Minister, was removed from the post. He was also removed as the state Congress President.

Since then, there has been tensions within the state party unit and crisis deepened in September last year before the party President’s election.