The development suggested a worsening power struggle between the chief minister and Sachin Pilot who was tipped to be Gehlot's replacement after he declared his candidature for the Congress president's post.
Rajasthan political crisis: 10 points
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot is also likely to resign from his post before filing his nomination for the Congress President poll.
Some of the MLAs loyal to Gehlot said his successor should be someone who was instrumental in saving the government during the political crisis in 2020 and not someone who was involved in the bid to topple it, a veiled reference to Sachin Pilot.
Gehlot loyalists claimed that over 90 MLAs went to Joshi’s home, but the number could not be verified independently. The Congress has 108 MLAs in the House of 200.
Govind Ram Meghwal, said Ashok Gehlot can shoulder both roles, that of the chief minister as well as the party's national president.
Disgruntled with the party, Rajasthan ministers Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Shanti Dhariwal are meeting AICC observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge at CM Ashok Gehlot's residence.
On Gehlot's successor, Khachariyawas said, "As of now Gehlot is the chief minister. In a democracy, an election is decided by counting votes. Democracy runs on numbers, whoever has the support of MLAs of Rajasthan will be the leader."
Gehlot, seen by many as a reluctant candidate for the top party position, initially appeared unwilling to give up his CM’s post. Later, it was speculated that he would rather see C P Joshi --- or anyone else --- as CM rather than Pilot, who had rebelled against his leadership.
Gehlot and Pilot were at loggerheads over the chief minister's post soon after the Congress won the Assembly elections in December 2018. The high command then chose Gehlot as the chief minister for the third time while Pilot was made his deputy.
