Gehlot jolts Gandhis

When Rahul Gandhi set on his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' he perhaps did not expect that it would result in Congress 'Thodo' by seniormost party leader like Ashok Gehlot. The developments in Jaipur have come as a major shock for the AICC.

Since the expectation of the Gandhis of a smooth transition failed and while Rahul Gandhi was playing football in Kerala, Gehlot snubbed and stumped the Congress party by engineering a mutiny indicating that they will not accept Sachin Pilot as Chief Minister. The CWC feels that it would not be good to lay faith in Gehlot and hence his candidature for the party president post should be reconsidered.

Speculations are rife in Congress circles that Ashok Gehlot would be asked to be keep out from the race of party presidentship. AICC will look for a new candidate to succeed Sonia Gandhi. This could be Mallikarjun Kharge, Digvijay Singh, Mukul Wasnik or K C Venugopal. Though Shashi Tharoor is also in the race, he is not considered as a serious contestant. Sources says that Gehlot on his own will not withdraw from the race. This could mean more trouble for the Gandhis.

Though Gehlot tried for some damage control exercise by saying that he had no role in the rebellion, that took place in Jaipur on Sunday, the AICC high command views it as defying the Gandhis' rule book. The party high command feels that it amounts to snubbing the party high command.

Sonia Gandhi is said to have spoken to Rahul Gandhi over phone and thereafter, Rahul discussed with Venugopal and he was asked to rush back to Delhi.

Meanwhile, AICC in charge Ajay Maken on Monday said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was briefed about the political developments in Rajasthan. "She has sought a written report. It is unfortunate that Rajasthan CLP meeting could not take place," he said. He termed the action of Gehlot loyalist MLAs as 'indiscipline.'

Earlier, Ajay Maken attacked the Gehlot camp for pushing for a conditional resolution, terming it conflict of interest. The AICC observer said that the act of calling a parallel meeting while a CLP meet was already planned is "prima facie indiscipline."

Talking to reporters in Jaipur, Maken said that last night, three MLAs Shanti Dhariwal, Mahesh Joshi and Pratap Khachriyawas representing the Gehlot camp met him and wanted a resolution that Congress high command should take a final decision be passed after October 19. This means the authority to take final decision would be with Gehlot. They also refused to talk to them individually. Their third demand was that the CM should be picked up from 103 MLAs who were loyal to the party during crisis.