NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is likely to meet Sonia Gandhi and explain the events, including the boycott of the CLP session in Jaipur by the MLAs loyal to him, sources said on Wednesday after the crisis broke out in the Congress in Rajasthan.
The source said, he would stay in Delhi until September 30. Once more, a group of Congress leaders pushed for Gehlot to be named president. The sources said that the choice might be made by this evening and that the current problem in Rajasthan would also be resolved within the following two days.
Sachin Pilot is already in Delhi and is up against strong opposition from the Gehlot camp for the role of CM. Thus far Pilot has been keeping up a silence, which is being considered serious. The decision regarding the post of CM can also be taken soon, source said.
Shanti Dhariwal, the minister for parliamentary affairs in Rajasthan, Mahesh Joshi, the party whip, and Dharmendra Rathore, the chairman of the RTDC, received show-cause notices from the Congress on Tuesday for conducting a concurrent meeting of party legislators in Jaipur.
In the notice sent to Dhariwal, it was mentioned that as the minister of parliamentary affairs, he had engaged in "severe indiscipline" by holding a separate meeting of MLAs at his home and "pressuring MLAs not to attend the official meeting."
The notice reads - by hosting the informal gathering, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister "confused the Congress MLAs as to which one was convened officially." The notice, which requests a response within ten days, also noted that Dhariwal's parallel meeting took place despite repeated assurances from senior party figures Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken that they were there to speak with each MLA "individually and impartially" and compile a report for Sonia Gandhi.
Joshi was also given notice that he had engaged in "severe indiscipline" as Chief Whip by boycotting the official CLP (Congress Legislature Party) meeting and by organising a parallel meeting of MLAs while the officially assigned observers were still waiting for the formal meeting to begin. "As Chief Whip your attendance at the unlawful and unauthorised meeting perplexed the MLAs as to which one was convened legitimately," it said.
In their reports and notices, the observers have not mentioned Gehlot by name. The high command is reportedly working to resolve the conflict and prevent similar issues. The high command is also pursuing a strategy to leave all options open. On Wednesday, the name of the nominee for the presidency is likely to be decided.
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