NEW DELHI: After settling issues in the Punjab unit, the Congress high command is now focusing on Rajasthan to find a solution to the ongoing tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former state party chief Sachin Pilot. A decision is expected soon.
KC Venugopal, general secretary (organisation) is visiting Jaipur where he is scheduled to meet Gehlot, Pilot, party MLAs and leaders from the state before an organisational rejig in the state unit. There has been long pending demand for a reshuffle in Rajasthan Congress and Pilot has sent several reminders to Congress chief regarding the same.
“I am a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan and visiting Jaipur for related works,” Venugopal said before leaving for Jaipur.
Sources said that the changes in the state unit are expected “as early as next week” with people from Pilot’s group likely to be inducted in the state cabinet, organization, and state boards.
It’s been a year since the rebellion by the Pilot camp but the Congress high command has failed to address issues flagged by the former deputy CM. A three-member committee constituted to settle the issue failed to do so in the last year.
Pilot and MLAs supporting him were removed from the state cabinet and organizational positions after they rebelled against Gehlot. Pilot has maintained that he is not looking for any posts but that his men be accommodated in the cabinet and other organisational posts in the state.
“After settling trouble between Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and PCC chief Navjot Sigh Sidhu, the high command wants issues in the Rajasthan unit to be addressed at the earliest. There have been a couple of meetings in the last one week in Delhi and now, the general secretary in-charge organization is in Jaipur to address it. Decisions are expected soon,” sources added.
Pilot, who was offered a post in the AICC, has been eyeing the chief minister’s post as he was promised by the top leadership after the party's election win in 2018. He was assured by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that his concerns will be addressed before the 2023 assembly election.