Its government up and running in Karnataka after a record win in the recently concluded polls, the Congress has turned its attention to factionalism in Rajasthan, which has to hold assembly elections in or before December 2023.
The party high command has called a meeting at 4pm on May 26 in Delhi to resolve the festering feud between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, sources said.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi will preside over the meeting, which will be attended by the feuding leaders, state president Govind Singh Dotasra and party’s Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Randhawa.
The state unit has been grappling with factionalism for a while but the situation has worsened in the last few weeks, with most MLAs split between Gehlot and Pilot camps.
Earlier this month, 45-year-old Pilot embarked on a five-day Jan Sangharsh Yatra, walking 125 kilometers from Ajmer to Jaipur.
The yatra was aimed at highlighting corruption during the previous regime, which was led by BJP’s Vasundhara Raje. Pilot targeted the Gehlot government for failing to act against liquor and mine mafias as well as individuals involved in alleged wrongdoings.
He set a 15-day deadline, saying if the government wouldn’t address his demands by May 31, he would begin a state-wide protest.
The meeting is seen as an attempt to prevent further damage and fight the election together. The meeting would look into the issues raised by Pilot and also discuss preparations for the assembly election, sources said.
There would, however, be no discussion on power-sharing or the position of the chief minister, sources said.
Read more: Mine scam, Lalit Modi, liquor mafia... Here is why Sachin Pilot protests against Ashok Gehlot
The power struggle between the two tallest leaders of the party in the western state started in 2020, two years after the Congress was voted to power.
In 2022, when the trouble last surfaced, Gehlot seemed to enjoy the support of most of the MLAs in the 200-member house. But the scales have seen evened out, sources said.
In March 2022, Pilot wrote a letter to Gehlot, urging action against individuals involved in alleged corrupt practices when the BJP was in power from 2013 to 2018.
“Credibility should also be safeguarded. When allegations are made solely for electoral gains, the public loses trust in politicians,” he wrote.
In November 2022, Gehlot sparked controversy by labelling Pilot a traitor and accused him of accepting money from the BJP to overthrow the state government.
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