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‘State Congress leaders reach consensus over cabinet reshuffle’: Ajay Maken
AICC general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge, Ajay Maken on Sunday said the state Congress leaders have reached a consensus over cabinet shuffle and the final decision is to be taken by the party high command
AICC general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge, Ajay Maken on Sunday said the state Congress leaders have reached a consensus over cabinet shuffle and the final decision is to be taken by the party high command. Maken’s comments came during a press briefing.
However, both cabinet shuffle and political appointments may have to wait until next month as Maken said he would be returning to the state on July 28 and 29 to hold discussions with MLAs once more.
Maken, along with AICC general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal, arrived in the City last night and held long discussions with CM Ashok Gehlot at his residence.
Maken and Venugopal are members of the committee constituted by the AICC last year when senior Congress leader and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot revolted. This is the first time that they held discussions together on issues raised by Pilot with CM Gehlot.
After meeting ministers, MLAs and office-bearers at the party office, Maken said that all the leaders have unanimously left the decision of the cabinet reshuffle to the party high command.
However, he did not disclose the date of cabinet expansion. “I can say that there is no disagreement or contradiction among the party leaders and they all have left the final decision about the cabinet expansion to the party high command,” he said addressing the newspersons.
“I am returning on July 28-29 and will hold one-on-one dialogue with Congress MLAs over district and block (appointments) as AICC wants to know the feedback of MLAs before taking any decisions. We will also ask them for good names for appointments on Boards and Corporations,” he said
“We are holding discussions over the appointment of district presidents, and political appointments on Boards and Corporations. I just want to say that all unanimously have stated that whatever high command decides is accepted to us. We soon will take decisions on these issues as there is no disagreement,” he said.
Maken, along with Venugopal, reached the state party office where the meeting with the ministers, MLAs, and office bearers, who were in present Jaipur, was held. It was an unofficial meeting during which issues like inflation, Pegasus ow, among others were discussed.
“People of the country are suffering from high inflation; many people lost jobs during the corona pandemic and instead of spending money and resources for people, the central government misused the resources for snooping and spying on the leaders, journalists and judiciary. This is highly condemnable,” Maken said.
Last night, both the senior leaders held a meeting with chief minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence and held a detailed discussion about the cabinet expansion, political appointments in boards and corporations, and manifesto implementation, which was raised by Pilot during the political crisis.
After Punjab, the party high command has shifted its focus to Rajasthan, where demands for cabinet expansion and political appointments gained momentum after reports of resentment in the camp led by Pilot, who along with 18 MLAs had rebelled against the leadership of Gehlot last year.
Three days back, Pilot had indicated that Congress would soon take suitable steps to address issues raised by him. He had said that he is in touch with the party’s high command over the issues raised by him and hoped that the required steps would be taken soon.
Pilot was removed from the post of Rajasthan’s deputy chief minister and state party chief in July last year after he rebelled against the Gehlot leadership. After a one-month-long political crisis, the party high command announced to form a three-member committee to address the issues raised by him.
Last month, MLAs from the Pilot camp said that the party should fulfil the promises made to Pilot last month, following which the demand for cabinet expansion and political appointments gained momentum.
