A day after The Hindu reported that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had asked Ashok Gehlot to become the next party chief, the Rajasthan Chief Minister on Wednesday evaded a direct answer but said as a disciplined soldier, he does whatever the high command asks him to do.
Mr. Gehlot, however, was quick to add that right now the high command has given him the responsibility to be the Chief Minister of Rajasthan and has made him a senior AICC observer for Gujarat polls.
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“I am also hearing about it [Ms. Gandhi’s suggestion for the president’s post] through the media,” Mr. Gehlot told reporters in Ahmedabad, adding, “Whatever responsibility the party high command has given me, I am performing them. I have been made a senior observer for Gujarat elections and that’s why I am here. The other responsibility is that of being the Chief Minister of Rajasthan and there is no compromise there. I have to ensure our government is coming back to power there [Rajasthan]. I don’t know anything else.” Later, in response to a specific query from NDTV on whether he would be a candidate in the party’s presidential polls, Mr. Gehlot said, “I never become the candidate. I do whatever the high command tells me. I have been a disciplined soldier all my life. I will remain so.”
CWC meeting
The exact dates for the presidential poll will be decided at the Congress Working Committee (CWC), announced general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal. “A virtual meeting of the CWC will be held on August 28 at 3.30 p.m. to approve the exact schedule of dates for the election of the Congress President. Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi will preside over the CWC meeting,” he tweeted.
With former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi refusing to take back the reins of the party and concerns over Ms. Gandhi’s health and age, the party could be forced to look beyond the Gandhi family.
However, with former Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi, refusing to take back the reins of the party and concerns over Ms. Gandhi’s health and age, the party could be forced to look beyond the Gandhi family.
Interestingly, just when the Congress is about to announce its presidential poll schedule, all three members of the Gandhi family have gone abroad for Ms. Gandhi’s health check-up and visit her ailing mother.
If Mr. Gehlot agrees to the elevation, it will also solve the party’s leadership tussle in Rajasthan where elections are due by the end of 2023. Former Deputy Chief Minister, Sachin Pilot, who has been aspiring to the top post could be brought in as Mr. Gehlot’s replacement.
However, the Gandhis will have to tread this path carefully as they were blamed for the party’s disastrous results in Punjab earlier this year after they had unseated Captain (retd.) Amarinder Singh a few months before the elections. And Mr. Gehlot, on more than one occasion, has shown his reluctance to accept the top party post.
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“I have been saying this repeatedly that the Congress will revive only if Rahul Gandhi ji takes over. Without him, people will be disappointed and if people sit at home, then the party will be weak. Ultimately, Rahul Gandhi ji has to take over by respecting the sentiments expressed by everyone that he should lead,” Mr. Gehlot had told reporters on Tuesday after his meeting with Ms. Gandhi in Delhi.
But with the Gandhis now reluctant to continue in their roles, the party will either have to find a consensus candidate or prepare for a contest. And with the emergence of G-23, the ginger group that has been pushing for internal reforms since the last two years, the presidential polls are likely to be a contested space in the absence of the Gandhi family.
