The central leadership of the Congress persisted on Monday in its efforts to quell the never-ending power struggle that continues to plague the grand old party in the few remaining states where it is in control.
A late-night meeting was held at interim leader Sonia Gandhi’s residence in Delhi as the Rajasthan crisis grew more tense as chief minister Ashok Gehlot declared his candidacy for the party president’s position while continuing to hold the position of governor over his former deputy and current rival Sachin Pilot.
Here are the major news stories from the day that once more highlighted the leadership’s inability to conduct business as usual:
Nath, who is well-known to be friendly with Gehlot, has apparently been requested to mediate a truce after failing to do so in his own state, which resulted in the fall of the Congress administration and the departure of several politicians, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, to the BJP.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary of the Congress, met with the party’s president and her mother at her 10 Janpath home. A factional quarrel that developed into a full-blown crisis for the party over a potential leadership transition is also alleged to have led Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal to meet Sonia Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi met with Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken, who gave her a briefing on the events in Rajasthan. To resolve the problems, they were transferred to the western state, but they had little luck when they returned. The team would soon provide a formal report.
He further claimed that Gehlot gave his approval for the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to be held, and he called it “indiscipline” for Gehlot’s supporter MLAs to convene a separate gathering.
Few people believed Gehlot when he said he played no part in the MLAs’ uprising.As the two sides resumed their verbal battle, Gehlot supporters claimed that Maken was sent to remove Pilot, whom they branded a traitor for planning an insurrection in 2020.
MLAs loyal to Sachin Pilot have so far held back from making any public remarks on the situation. On Sunday night, Pilot had spent many hours at the CM’s house.
Assembly Speaker CP Joshi and several Congress members travelled to a polo field in Jaipur to observe a tournament in which Sports Minister Ashok Chandna was one of the players.
