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Is late-night meet a new move in Ashok Gehlot vs Sachin Pilot? 10 facts

September 20, 2022
Bharat Times

There is speculation that the meeting could be linked to Ashok Gehlot, who is running for Congress president.

Jaipur:
Ashok Gehlot, who is set to run for Congress president, has called a late night meeting of party legislators when his rival Sachin Pilot is out of town. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan can talk about contesting the election of Congress President.

Here are the top 10 points of this big story:

  1. After Mr Gehlot’s dinner for Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Congress MLAs have been asked to stop for a meeting at 10 pm tonight in Jaipur. Sachin Pilot, who is in Kerala for Rahul Gandhi’s “Bharat Jodi Yatra”, will be prominently absent in this meeting.

  2. Mr Gehlot, 71, is Gandhi’s choice to lead the Congress, and has been for a long time, but he is reportedly reluctant to give up his Rajasthan role. If he does so, his bitter rival and former deputy Sachin Pilot is likely to step in.

  3. Sources say that Mr. Gehlot does not agree with this and neither are the MLAs who support him. Sources say the show of strength is Mr Gehlot’s way of rallying his MLAs and putting his flock together one at a time, big changes could lie ahead.

  4. Although Mr Gehlot has agreed to file his nomination on Monday, when the Congress begins its electoral process, he is reportedly hoping to persuade Rahul Gandhi to return as Congress president.

  5. Sources say that Mr. Gehlot has told the Congress leadership that he wants to continue as Chief Minister for some time even after becoming the Congress President.

  6. Sources say that if he has to go into national politics, he wants a loyalist to rule Rajasthan as his representative. If not, he wants to play both roles by taking over as working president of Congress with Sonia Gandhi as full-time president.

  7. Congress will accept nominations till September 30. Elections for Congress President, if necessary (if there is more than one candidate) will be held on October 17. The results will be declared on October 19.

  8. Mr Gehlot has so far defended his post and faced crises such as the alleged BJP attempt to topple his government and the revolt by Sachin Pilot in 2020.

  9. In 2020, Mr Pilot rebelled against Mr Gehlot and moved to Delhi with 18 MLAs. A month-long standoff ended after the intervention of the Gandhi family.

  10. Both Mr. Gehlot and Mr. Pilot were in an intense race to become chief ministers after the Congress won the Rajasthan elections in 2018. The Congress elected Mr. Gehlot as the chief minister for the third time, while Mr. Pilot was made its deputy, after which he lost. his rebellion.