Sonia Gandhi To Decide On Rajasthan CM Post In A Day Or Two: Venugopal

A decision on Rajasthan Chief Minister’s post will be taken in a day or two by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a party leader said on Thursday even as embattled CM Ashok Gehlot met the party chief

NEW DELHI | Updated: 29 September, 2022 6:23 pm IST
Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal (TNI Photo By Tonmoy Thakur)

A decision on Rajasthan Chief Minister’s post will be taken in a day or two by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a party leader said on Thursday even as embattled CM Ashok Gehlot met the party chief and said sorry to her over the political developments in his state.

Speaking to the media after meeting Sonia Gandhi, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said, “A decision on CM post will be taken in a day or two by Congress president.”

He was responding to a question if the Congress plans to decide on the Chief ministerial post in Rajasthan.

His remarks came hours after Gehlot met Sonia Gandhi and apologised for the unfortunate turn of events in Rajasthan on Sunday.

As per party sources, Gehlot had offered to resign from the post of the Chief Minister. Gehlot also ended the suspense over his candidature to run for the party top post. He said, “Looking at the recent political circumstances, I have decided not to contest in the Congress president election. And a decision on the Chief Minister’s post will be taken by Sonia Gandhi.”

Gehlot’s statement virtually put curtains on a remarkable turnaround of fortune for a man who was believed to be the choice of the Gandhi family to succeed them as the next president of the Grand Old Party.

When questioned about the Congress president election and if Rahul Gandhi has endorsed the candidature of veteran party leader Digvijaya Singh, Venugopal, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, said, “There will be clarity on Congress president candidature by tomorrow evening.”

Gehlot arrived in the national capital on Wednesday night, three days after the political storm hit Rajasthan on Sunday. On Thursday afternoon, he arrived at the residence of Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi for a meeting. Soon after, Gehlot and Venugopal joined the meeting at 10 Janpath.

A high-voltage drama erupted in Rajasthan on Sunday when the MLAs loyal to Gehlot skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting and held a separate parallel meeting at the residence of urban development minister Shanti Dhariwal.

At the meeting at Dhariwal’s residence, MLAs belonging to Gehlot’s camp opposed the idea of electing Sachin Pilot as the next CM of the state. The MLAs also submitted their resignations to House Speaker CP Joshi.

Meanwhile, veteran party leaders Shashi Tharoor and Digvijaya Singh have collected the forms for the Congress presidential election. Both the leaders are expected to file their nominations by September 30.

September 30 is the last day for filing nomination for Congress president elections, which is taking place after a gap of 21 years. Polling is scheduled for October 17 and the counting of votes will take place on October 19.

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