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Rajasthan turmoil: Dhariwal denies AICC’s indiscipline charges
The AICC had earlier issued show cause notices to Rajasthan’s parliamentary affairs minister Dhariwal, party’s chief whip in state assembly Mahesh Joshi, and chairman of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Dharmendra Rathore.
Jaipur: Rajasthan Congress leader Shanti Dhariwal on Thursday denied charges of indiscipline levelled against him for allegedly holding a parallel Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Jaipur on September 25, as claimed by AICC general secretary in-charge of the state, Ajay Maken.
The AICC had earlier issued show cause notices to Rajasthan’s parliamentary affairs minister Dhariwal, party’s chief whip in state assembly Mahesh Joshi, and chairman of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Dharmendra Rathore.
A senior leader familiar with the development said Dhariwal in his response to the show-cause notice cited his decades-long commitment and loyalty to the party, and denied being involved in any indiscipline. “The minister conveyed that no parallel meeting was held to the CLP,” said the leader, requesting anonymity.
Joshi, meanwhile, said he received the notice only on Thursday and will be responding to it by Friday evening.
Thursday was the last day for the three Congress leaders, including the two ministers, to respond to the notices issued by AICC.
Dhariwal conveyed in his response that party legislators “did not let him come (to attend CLP) as there was a huge resentment among the MLAs over the news that a new chief minister face was being chosen from the 18 MLAs who rebelled in July 2020,” said the leader. “He clarified that whatever happened and decisions taken were in consensus with MLAs.”
In the show-cause notice to Dhariwal, the AICC had sought reply on why he hosted a parallel meeting of MLAs at his residence, pressuring them not to attend the official meeting.
The notice further said: “This happened even when central observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken clarified that they have come to speak to each MLA individually and impartially report to the Congress president.”
On September 25, Rajasthan witnessed a political crisis before the party’s move to hold a CLP meeting at chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s residence. The meeting was seen as a move to determine Gehlot’s successor. Before the meeting, over 90 MLAs submitted their resignation to the assembly speaker against any move to make former deputy chief minister and Gehlot’s bête noire Sachin Pilot the CM.
After the incident, Gehlot met party chief Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and apologised for not being able to get a one-line resolution passed in the CLP meeting. On his return, the CM resumed routine work.
