A full-blown crisis broke out in the ruling Congress in Rajasthan on Sunday with at least 92 legislators belonging to the party and its allies threatening to resign if “anyone responsible for the 2020 failed coup” to unseat Ashok Gehlot as Chief Minister is given the reins of the State government in the State. The MLAs have made the indirect reference to former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, who was largely expected to replace Mr. Gehlot.
Mr. Gehlot is slated to file his nomination for the Congress president’s post. Mr. Pilot’s supporters, meanwhile, claim that the legislators will not resign and hand over the government on a platter to the BJP. They dismissed the entire episode as “pressure tactics”.
The central leadership had scheduled a Congress Legislature Party meeting to pick Mr. Gehlot’s successor. The meeting, scheduled from 7 p.m. at his residence, could not take place, as the MLAs were at Cabinet Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal’s residence. At 9 p.m., they boarded a bus to Speaker C.P. Joshi’s residence. Minister Pratap Singh Kachariyawas said, “We are heading to Mr. Joshi’s residence to resign. We want to convey our sentiment to the leadership. While we are ready to die for Rahul Gandhi’s campaign against inflation and unemployment, we will not allow those who tried to bring down the Rajasthan government to be given the reins.”
