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Will contest Rajasthan polls unitedly, no space for indiscipline, says Congress
Twenty-nine leaders from Rajasthan Congress including the CM and state unit chief participated in the strategy meeting on Rajasthan.
The Congress high command on Thursday announced that it stands united in Rajasthan, and resolved to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in upcoming assembly elections, but underlined that indiscipline will not be tolerated in what was a clear message to the state unit roiled by factionalism between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and senior leader Sachin Pilot.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said all the leaders who attended the strategy meeting on Rajasthan “unanimously decided” that the Congress can win the Rajasthan elections, “provided there is unity”. He added that the party will release its list of candidates in the first week of September.
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“Twenty-nine leaders from Rajasthan Congress including the CM and state unit chief participated in this meeting today. All the leaders unanimously decided that Congress can win the Rajasthan elections provided there is unity among Rajasthan Congress. Today, all leaders decided to fight the elections unitedly. On the basis of winning ability, the candidates will be selected. The list of candidates will be announced in the first week of September,” Venugopal said.
Apart from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, AICC in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa were present in the meeting.This is the second meeting in as many months on Rajasthan involving the two leaders.
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Venugopal emphasised that no one should raise issues outside party forums, and cautioned of strong measures.
“The party has decided that everyone should follow strict discipline. Any issues are to be discussed within the party, and no one has the freedom to speak about the party’s internal politics outside the party. Strict disciplinary action will be taken against those who violate this”, said Venugopal.
But he refrained from commenting on any peace formula between Gehlot and his former deputy Pilot. When asked under whose leadership the party will contest the upcoming polls, he said, “We never announce the chief ministerial candidate, but we will fight the election together and unitedly.”
“With unity firmly in place, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will decide the future role of Pilot,” a senior leader aware of the matter. Pilot is expected to be given the charge of the poll campaign, the leader indicated.
The meeting assumed importance as the Congress was keen to put its house in order in the state where Pilot, who rebelled against Gehlot in 2020, has spent recent months protesting on governance issues, prompting a pushback from Gehlot.
Rajasthan is only one of four states ruled by the Congress on its own, and goes to the polls towards the end of the year. The state has a tradition of voting out the incumbent.
Kharge signalled that the two factions had reached a truce. In a tweet, he said the state was “growing on the path of progress”, praised the Gehlot government for “the schemes of inclusive development and public welfare to every house” and added that, “We will take care of everyone’s aspirations. Both present and future of Rajasthan are safe in the hands of Congress.”
In the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said that the party must highlight the corruption of the previous BJP government in Rajsathan and the Centre as a key plank, another leader aware of the developments said. According to this leader, while corruption charges during the Vasundhara Raje government was Pilot’s key issue, Gandhi also issued a stern warming against any criticism of the Gehlot government and said, “I don’t want to hear anyone speaking outside the party. If you have issues, come and speak to Kharge ji or me... Our people in the organisation are not rewarded well and I will see to it that everyone is rewarded after our government wins Rajasthan.”
During the meeting, Pilot, too, signalled truce and recalled how Kharge called him and spoke to him at length. “Pilot claimed that there is never an issue about who gets what. He also made commitment to bring the party to power and said that he remembers Kharge told that the time lost cannot be return,” said a third leader present in the meeting who asked not to be named.
Pilot, according to a third leader, said the BJP was trying its best to win Rajasthan as it knew it will lose the 2024 general elections if they can’t win Rajasthan. “We will fight them unitedly. We will have to be judicious and go by winnability while picking candidates,” Pilot said, according to the leader.
Later, Sachin Pilot said the party’s lawmakers and functionaries in Rajasthan will “work together to ensure victory” in the polls, and added that the meeting had discussed ways to buck the state’s trend of voting out incumbent governments.
Pilot also said that he raised the issues of corruption of the previous BJP government in the state, paper leaks and reform in the Rajasthan Public Service Commission.
People aware of the matter said door-to-door campaign will start soon after many leaders, including Gandhi and Pilot, pointed out its effectiveness. Venugopal underlined that such early preparations for elections had never happened in the Congress, the people added.
