Rajasthan minister Raghu Sharma appointed Congress in-charge for Gujarat

In a surprising political development, the AICC appointed Rajasthan health minister Raghu Sharma as the in-charge of Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli late on Thursday.

The development comes about two weeks after Sharma had a one-to-one meeting with senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at his residence on September 24. The same day, Sachin Pilot too had met Gandhi.

The appointment of Sharma, who is known to be close to Gehlot, has come as a surprise for a majority of people in the party, especially when Gujarat will be going for assembly polls next year in December 2022.

It will be the second time that a leader from Rajasthan will be leading the party in Gujarat elections; earlier it was CM Ashok Gehlot, who had brought the party close to victory in the 2017 assembly elections. BJP has remained undefeated in Gujarat since 1995.

The majority in the party believe that the appointment has come as an elevation for Sharma and it will bring him close to the leadership, but there is a section, which thinks that the move is to give him a safe exit, following resentment among MLAs.

A minister in the Gehlot government said, “Raghu Sharma’s stars seem to be moving in the right direction as this appointment will add to his career. Gujarat is Modi and Amit Shah’s state, and is important for Congress. Earlier, there was speculation that the state would be given to Pilot, looking to his stature but now that it has been given to Sharma, he too has been elevated to the same level.”

Besides, it was reported that MLAs also harboured resentment against Sharma and the same was conveyed during a feedback meeting chaired by AICC general secretary Ajay Maken.

A senior MLA close to Sachin Pilot on condition of anonymity claimed that Sharma’s exit comes following displeasure of the high command after resentment against him but by this appointment he has been given a respectable exit. He added that it will also help Gehlot while doing a cabinet reshuffle. Besides few more could be used by the leadership at the central level. He believed that all rumours of Pilot leaving the state are baseless as he soon would be getting a big responsibility in Rajasthan.

Political analyst Manish Godha said his appointment seems like an elevation, especially when the responsibility i handed over deals with states such as Gujarat, which was earlier handled by Gehlot.

For Congress, Gujarat is a key and politically important state, especially when the party fared well in the 2017 assembly elections and came close to victory because of Gehlot.

He continued how Sharma might face an exit from the Gehlot cabinet as Gujarat needs full attention. “This new responsibility would bring Sharma closer to the high command as it did for Gehlot, who was appointed general secretary headquarters after Gujarat. But simultaneously, he would be under pressure to perform and bring the party back into the race,” said Godha.