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Gehlot aide quits hours after sharing not-so-cryptic post on Twitter
The tweets by the OSD to Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Lokesh Sharma came amid the fast-changing developments in the Punjab Congress.
The officer on special duty (OSD) to Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Lokesh Sharma, put in his papers late on Saturday night, hours after he shared tweets that seemed to be a not-so-indirect attack on the handling of the power-sharing tussle in the Punjab Congress by the grand old party’s central leadership.
One of Sharma’s tweets written in Hindi when loosely translated meant “making the strong desperate and the weak proud...how to save the crops when the fence only eats away the field.”
He also shared a quote of renowned humourist Kaka Hathrasi that meant “look at the fast-changing nature, see the changing particles. You remain stuck thinking of fate. Leave it, friend. Leave the ‘dufli’ (musical instrument), bring change in life. Set some standards as you rise above the tradition.”
The social media posts coming from the senior official in the wake of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh’s resignation following months of tussle within the state unit and the veteran alleging humiliation is said to have raised a few eyebrows in the political of Rajasthan, one of the last remaining states where the Congress is in power and is struggling to control rebellion and dissent.
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In his resignation letter, however, Sharma said that he tweeted regularly and never intended to hurt the Congress' interests ever since he had been assigned official responsibilities. Stating that his posts were still being given a political colour, Sharma urged Gehlot to decide to in resignation.
Gehlot is under pressure to make more space for his former deputy Sachin Pilot, who has been waiting in the wings for a while now and has made his intentions clear to the central leadership on more than one occasion.
The desert state was engulfed in a major crisis in July 2020 when Pilot’s office issued a statement saying the Gehlot government was in minority, following which he was sacked as the deputy chief minister. The Congress had somehow managed to douse the rebellion at the time, but the embers remain and continue to spark once in a while.
Meanwhile, Punjab Congress MLAs authorised party president Sonia Gandhi to pick a new legislature party (CLP) leader to succeed Singh as the chief minister of the state.
Multiple reports suggested the name of the new leader is likely to be announced in a CLP meeting that has been convened at 11am on Sunday.
