Ashok Gehlot ‘out’ of Cong president poll, question before high command: how ‘in’ should it be | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express

Not clear if the leadership, which originally wanted Gehlot to contest, is still looking for a candidate of its choice; and if Digvijaya is that choice

For now, the Congress leadership has asserted its authority by managing to make Gehlot come to Delhi, publicly apologise to Sonia Gandhi and leave the choice of his successor in Rajasthan to her, after a meeting that lasted one-and-a-half hours.

The window for nominations for the Congress president post will close Friday. So far, senior leaders Digvijaya Singh and Shashi Tharoor have declared their intention to file nominations, and collected papers for the same. However, the question now is whether the leadership, which originally wanted Gehlot to contest, is still looking for a candidate of its choice.

While Tharoor entered the race on his own, and later met Sonia to rule out any discord, it is not clear whether Digvijaya is doing so at the behest of the leadership or not, or if his bid is serious or just a smokescreen.

Several interpretations are also being drawn from Gehlot’s statement that he takes “moral responsibility” for the CLP meeting fiasco in Jaipur on September 25; it was supposed to meet and pass a one-line resolution authorising the Congress president to take a decision on the next CM.

A clear picture is likely to emerge after Gehlot’s bete noire Sachin Pilot meets Sonia later on Thursday.

https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/ashok-gehlot-out-of-cong-president-poll-question-before-high-command-8180593/

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