For Rajasthan Congress, that sinking feeling: It ain’t over till Ashok Gehlot swings | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Sachin Pilot had made a play for the CM’s chair after the 2018 Assembly polls, but MLAs loyal to the veteran leader thwarted him.
Just like in 2018, when he made a play for the chief minister’s position, Sachin Pilot is in the running to be the chief minister but MLAs loyal to the veteran leader stand in the way. The former Union minister is said to have the backing of the Congress high command to succeed Gehlot as CM if the veteran leader gets elected as party president. But, at least 80 MLAs from the Gehlot camp are said to be against the idea of handing over the state’s reins to him. They are opposed to the CLP passing a one-line resolution giving the Congress president the right to choose the next chief minister, which they fear will be Pilot.
Pilot fancied his chances of becoming the CM four years earlier too after having led the party’s revival in Rajasthan and bringing it back to power. But the former Union minister, who was the Rajasthan Congress chief at the time, left the job incomplete in the polls. The Congress, despite emerging as the single-largest party, fell one seat short of the majority mark of 100. This gave Gehlot a way in and with the Congress requiring outside support to form the government, independent MLAs such as Ramkesh Meena and Babulal Nagar came out in the veteran leader’s support. They said they were ready to support the Congress only if Gehlot got the top post. Most of these Independent MLAs on Gehlot’s side were former Congressmen who had been denied election tickets by Pilot.
Among those who stood with Pilot at the time was Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief Hanuman Beniwal, who pledged the support of his three MLAs if Pilot was made the CM.
The Congress high command deputed its general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal to seek the opinion of each Congress legislator about who the CM should be. While the Congress leadership was quick to announce the CMs of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, two other states where it won the Assembly polls that year, the Rajasthan impasse dragged on for a few more days.
Both Gehlot and Pilot camped in Delhi for a series of meetings with the party’s top leadership. Initially, Pilot put his feet down and refused to part with the CM’s chair. Subsequently, protests erupted in certain areas in eastern Rajasthan, which is Pilot’s stronghold, with the demonstrators demanding that Pilot be appointed the CM.
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