As Gehlot agrees to enter Cong prez poll fray, wants loyalist at helm in Rajasthan

Gehlot reluctantly agreed to enter the Congress presidential battle after Rahul Gandhi remained adamant on not returning at the helm

Veteran leader Ashok Gehlot appears to be playing all his cards to ensure that his bete noir Sachin Pilot does not succeed him if he has to relinquish Rajasthan Chief Ministership in the run up to his Congress presidential bid and instal his loyalist at the helm in Jaipur.

Gehlot, who has reluctantly agreed to enter the Congress presidential battle after Rahul Gandhi remained adamant on not returning at the helm, firmly believes that he should be allowed to hold the two posts and he made his wish amply when he spoke to reporters in Delhi ahead of his meeting with party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday.

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He said the ‘one-man, one-post’ formula is applicable only to persons who are nominated to posts and not those who are elected like a Chief Minister, a Minister, an MLA or an MP. Soon after Sonia urged him to take the lead in August, Gehlot had set conditions for him taking up the assignment, but it was not acceptable to the High Command.

Pilot wants to assume the chief ministership and has been “patiently waiting” after his aborted bid earlier when he and his supporting MLAs holed up in a Gurugram hotel raising suspicion of a BJP coup in Rajasthan. Pilot had then lost his Deputy Chief Ministership and state unit presidentship.

If Gehlot has to leave the Chief Ministership, he will insist that the leadership should choose his preference. Among the possible names who can replace Gehlot include Ministers Shantikumar Dhariwal and BD Khalla, Speaker CP Joshi and Rajasthan Congress president Govind Dotasra.

Dhariwal (79) is the Local Self Government Minister while Khalla (73) is Education Minister. Joshi (72) was Congress’ face in 2007 polls but could not become Chief Minister as he lost the election by one vote. Dotasra (57) as well as Mahesh Joshi (68) are also Gehlot loyalists.

The Pilot camp believes that Gehlot will try to retain the Chief Ministership at least till Gujarat Assembly elections later this year. They said that Pilot’s chances will be dim if Gehlot becomes the president and a decision on Rajasthan Chief Minister is left to him, as the party chief will have immense power to steer the decision in a particular direction.

For the Congress High Command, it will be a tricky journey to solve the leadership tussle.