New Delhi: On Thursday, Congress top brass met with state leaders to discuss poll preparation and attempt to resolve the tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his nemesis Sachin Pilot, all while asserting that the party will fight unitedly and reverse the trend of incumbent governments being voted out of power in Rajasthan.
Congress general secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal tweeted after the meeting, "An extremely fruitful strategy meeting on the upcoming Rajasthan elections at the AICC HQ chaired by INC president Sh.@khargeji, in the presence of Sh.@Rahul Gandhi ji, AICC In-charge @sukhjinder_inc, cm sh @ashokgehlot51ji attending virtually, along with other senior leaders."
He promised that the Congress would work together to turn the tide in Rajasthan and return the party to power there.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chairman Rahul Gandhi, state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra, Pilot, and other prominent politicians from Rajasthan attended the meeting. Also present were Venugopal, AICC in-charge of the state Sukhjinder Randhawa, and state unit chief Pilot.
According to our sources, Chief Minister Gehlot, who recently broke both of his toes in an accident, is participating in the meeting via video conference.
Congress chairman Kharge tweeted a video from the meeting, claiming that Rajasthan was making progress thanks to public service, relief, and elevation for all.
In a tweet written in Hindi, he claimed that Congress party programmes aimed at promoting inclusive development and public welfare have reached every home in the state of Rajasthan.
In preparation for the upcoming elections, the party will hit the streets as one.
Farmers, farm workers, young people, and women in Rajasthan are all showing support for the Congress party, according to Kharge.
We shall see to it that everyone's dreams are fulfilled. The Congress party is the best hope for Rajasthan's future. He predicted that the state's history of voting out the party in power would cease with this election.
Gandhi said on Facebook in Hindi that the Congress president had led a meeting with Congress leaders from Rajasthan.
The former Congress head has predicted that the Congress will once again form the government in Rajasthan and will continue to strive for the better future of the people.
Kharge has presided over crucial strategic talks with the heads of states that will soon be holding elections. The chiefs of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram have all met with him already.
With the Gehlot-Pilot battle complicating matters for the Congress, all eyes are on Rajasthan as the party tries to reverse the revolving door tendency of incumbent parties being thrown out of office in the approaching assembly elections.
Sachin Pilot, speaking at an event commemorating the one-year death anniversary of his father Rajesh Pilot last month, had said that people's trust is his "biggest asset" and that he will not stop fighting until he gets justice for them.
Pilot had been criticising the Congress administration of Rajasthan, led by Ashok Gehlot, for what he saw as a lack of action in response to his allegations of corruption against the BJP government of the state's former leader, Vasundhara Raje.
The former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan has called for compensation for victims of job exam paper leaks, as well as for the dissolution and reformation of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission.
In an interesting twist, two days before the strategy meeting, on Tuesday, Gehlot said that the Rajasthan government will submit a law in the upcoming assembly session to increase the amount of penalty for anyone engaged in the leak of recruitment exam papers from 10 years to life in jail.
Congress leaders Kharge and Gandhi individually met with Gehlot and Pilot for protracted talks in May to try to soothe the tensions. After that, they stopped by Kharge's house at 10 Rajaji Marg for some photos.
Party officials claimed after the discussions that Gehlot and Pilot have agreed to run as a unified front in the upcoming assembly elections and have agreed to let the party's high command work out any differences between them.
Since the Congress took over in the state in 2018, Gehlot and Pilot have been locked in a struggle for control. After leading a revolution against the Gehlot government in 2020, Pilot lost his positions as party state unit president and deputy chief minister.
High-level officials were unsuccessful in changing leadership in Rajasthan last year because Gehlot supporters refused to convene a legislature party gathering.
Pilot, despite being warned by the party, decided to fast for a day last month in protest of Gehlot's "inaction" on corruption during the Raje administration.—Inputs from Agencies