The Congress was quick to make changes in the State leadership in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh after the recent poll debacle, but in Rajasthan the party continues to drag its feet.
On Saturday, the party announced its long awaited organisational reshuffle. It promoted Rajasthan’s former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot to the position of general secretary. Last week, the party had nominated former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot as a member of the National Alliance Committee. The two appointments indicate that it will be looking for a fresh face for the post of leader of the Congress Legislature Party. The other question looming over is whether the party will retain State chief Govind Singh Dotasra.
According to party insiders, the party is trying to balance the caste arithmetic in the State that will be crucial for the Lok Sabha elections, just a few months away. If Mr. Dotasra — who is one of the prominent Jat leaders — is to be replaced, then the party will have to appoint another Jat face in either of the two positions. Though, those close to Mr. Dotasra claim that the central leadership has not given him any indication that it is looking for his replacement.
Front runner
Out of the 69 MLAs, as per sources, Harish Chaudhary — another popular Jat leader — is one of the front runners to lead the party in the Assembly. Mr. Chaudhary narrowly won the recent Assembly polls by a margin of 910 votes in the Baytoo constituency in Barmer district.
As the dust settles, a post-poll analysis of the Congress’s performance in the State reveals that though it failed to repeat the 2018 sweep, the party managed to hold on to its own in eastern Rajasthan in comparison to a near wipe out in the western parts of the State. In former Chief Minister Mr. Gehlot’s home district of Jodhpur, the party won only two seats. There are at least six other districts where the party could not win a single seat — Jaisalmer, Chittorgarh, Baran, Rajsamand, Bhilwara and Bharatpur.
If the party decides to relieve Mr. Dotasra, then the real struggle will be for the State president’s race, where once again the power tussle between Mr. Pilot and Mr. Gehlot is expected to play out. Two leaders — one from eastern Rajasthan and the other from southern Rajasthan — are the top contenders. “Dausa MLA Murari Lal Meena, who won by a margin of over 30,000 votes and is strongly supported by Mr. Pilot, and Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya, who won the Bagidora seat by a margin of over 41,000 votes and enjoys the confidence of Mr. Gehlot, are both in contention, if the party decides to look for a fresh face to lead the State,” a top Congress leader said.
