Krishnamohan Rao
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi is said to be worried at the lack of coordination between senior party leaders in Rajasthan and the manner in which AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot is encouraging dissidence against the PCC president Sachin Pilot.
In fact, Congress entertains high hopes this time around in Rajasthan after it won two Lok Sabha by elections and an assembly seat, recently. That is the reason, Ashok Gehlot, two term Chief Minister of Rajasthan ( 10 years) was elevated to the AICC and given the crucial and high profile post of General Secretary in-charge of the party organisation.
A few days back in a meeting with Gehlot, Pilot and general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, Avinash Pandey, Rahul Gandhi took the bull by its horns. He met all three separately and then had a combined meeting with all of them.
Sources say that Rahul told Gehlot to focus on his work as general secretary and keep off Rajasthan. He told Pilot that he must balance all sides, groups and factions and take everybody along.
Sachin Pilot has been asking Rahul Gandhi to change the General secretary Avinash Pandey as he is said to have old links with Gehlot and Mukul Wasnik who was close to Gehlot during his days as Rajasthan chief minister.
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But judging by the recent meeting which took place, it does not look like Rahul gandhi is in the mood to oblige Pilot and change the general secretray in charge of the State.
it is learnt that Ashok Gehlot is not able to get over his Rajasthan fixation and is not able to move on, leaving the state to Pilot. Gehlot is a consummate politician who focuses full time on the politics of Rajasthan and wants a third shot at the Chief Ministership, even though the signal from the Congress President's office is very clear. that is not to interfere in Rajasthan and focus on AICC work.
It is also interesting that Gehlot loyalists in the Congress come to Delhi and do not shy away from the assertion that unless Gehlot is projected as the leader in the State and showcased as the next chief minister it would be of advantage to BJP and the Congress could end up losing the state and bringing the BJP back to power.
For the moment, the bottom line is that Gehlot is simply not in mood to reconcile himself to the fact that he will not be the chief minister if the congress comes to power in the state.