News Analysis India

Tag: rajasthan politics

  • Congress govt in Rajasthan will complete five-year tenure: CM Ashok Gehlot 

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Amid internal rumblings in the Punjab and Chhattisgarh Congress, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said his government will complete its full five-year tenure.

    Gehlot also exuded confidence that he would again come back to power after the next assembly elections and reflecting his aspiration to become the Rajasthan CM for a fourth term too, he added that he would allocate the Urban Development and Housing Department again to Shanti Dhariwal for the fourth time.

    Speaking at a programme at his residence here to launch the ‘Prashasan Shaharon Ke Sang’ and ‘Prashasan’ Gaon Ke Sang’ campaign, Gehlot said there was speculation doing the rounds about Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh after Punjab.

    “The Congress government in Rajasthan will not only complete its five-year tenure but will again come back to power in the next assembly elections in the state,” he said.

    He added that he would again allocate the Urban Development and Housing Ministry to Shanti Dhariwal for a fourth time as he has worked hard to make the campaign, launched today, successful.

    In Rajasthan, former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Gehlot have been locked in a leadership tussle.

    In Chhattisgarh, after Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel completed his two-and-a-half-year tenure in June, the T S Singhdeo camp claimed that the Congress leadership in 2018 had agreed to give the post to him after the government completed half its term.

    The Cabinet reshuffle and political appointments are also pending for long in Rajasthan and the Pilot camp MLAs have been demanding from the party high command to fulfil the promises made to him last year.

    Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs had revolted against the leadership of chief minister Gehlot in July last year with the political uncertainties in the state existing for over one month.

    During Saturday’s programme, Gehlot, who underwent angioplasty in August, also said he is not going anywhere for the next 15-20 years.

    He said after the blockage in his heart artery, treatment was done.

    “The prayers of the people of the entire state helped me. Nothing is going to happen to me, nothing will happen for 15-20 years, if someone wants to be unhappy, it’s their problem,” he said.

    The chief minister claimed the ground level feedback reveals that there is no anti-incumbency in Rajasthan.

    “This is what people are saying. We have not left any stone unturned in doing the work but (we) don’t know what will happen next, but the mood of the public is of making us come back,” said the CM.

    In a light vein, he took a jibe at the bureaucracy saying bureaucrats are the first to worry if the government will stay in power or not and the first discussions on the issue start in the secretariat.

    He reiterated that the government will not only run for five years but come back to power also after the next elections.

    On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Gehlot said after 60 years, the BJP adopted Mahatma Gandhi for political interests.

    If they adopt Gandhi’s ideas as well, many problems will be solved, he added.

    “On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, I would like to say to (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat, (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah from the bottom of my heart that if you have adopted Gandhi, the sense of truth, non-violence and secularism too should be there in your hearts,” he said.

    Gehlot also accused a section of the media of reporting in a biased manner.

    Witing against the Congress and creating stories against its chief ministers are the compulsions of a section of the media, he claimed.

    Rajasthan PCC president and Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra, Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Revenue Minister Harish Choudhary besides several other ministers, MLAs and senior officers too attended the programme.

  • Focus shifts to Rajasthan as Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi meet Sachin Pilot

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot met former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday amid speculation over Cabinet expansion and organisation rejig in Rajasthan.

    The discussion between the former deputy chief minister and the Gandhi siblings comes days after the dramatic developments in Punjab where the Congress replaced Amarinder Singh as chief minister and appointed Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit leader, to the top post of the state.

    Pilot, who had also met Gandhi last week, met him at his Tughlaq Road residence and Priyanka Gandhi was also present during the meeting.

    Since the developments in Punjab, the power circles in the Congress are abuzz that Rajasthan, where Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot have been locked in a leadership tussle, as well as Chhattisgarh were next on the list of Rahul Gandhi to set the party’s house in order.

    Though there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting, sources said the impending cabinet expansion and organisational rejig were discussed.

    Pilot for long has been demanding that Cabinet expansion should happen and appointments to boards and corporations in the state be made soon.

    He has been asserting that Congress workers and leaders working closely with him for the party should be given their dues.

    There is also talk of Pilot being brought back as chief of the state unit even as his supporters insist that a leadership change should be effected in Rajasthan by replacing Gehlot.

    Pilot and the MLAs supporting him had revolted against Chief Minister Gehlot last year over his style of functioning, after which Pilot was removed from the posts of the state party chief and the Rajasthan deputy chief minister.

    Sources said the leadership is keen to resolve all issues in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where Health Minister T S Singhdeo is seeking to replace Bhupesh Baghel as chief minister citing a verbal agreement that the leadership position would be shared between the two for two and a half years each, ahead of the next round of assembly polls.

    Congress general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Ajay Maken had said last week that the roadmap is ready for cabinet expansion and organisational rejig in the state.

    “If Ashok Gehlot had not fallen ill we would have done cabinet expansion and the roadmap is ready for appointment at board corporations and district presidents,” Maken had said at a press conference.

  • Cabinet slots, political positions up for grabs as Congress tries to resolve Rajasthan mess

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR:  Hoping to resolve the rift in the Rajasthan party unity after forcing a solution in Punjab, Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Ajay Maken on Sunday indicated a cabinet reshuffle and a clutch of political appointments would be made soon to address the demands of all factions.

    Both held a meeting with PCC president Govind Sigh Dotasra and several state ministers, MLAs and office bearers at the party office here. The meeting happened in the presence of rebel leader and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and his group of MLAs.

    A large group of Pilot’s supporters shouted slogans outside the PCC office while the meeting was on. As they grew more vociferous, Pilot had to send some leaders from his own group to persuade them to pipe down. Earlier in the day, Venugopal and Maken called on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and reportedly discussed the rejig.

    True to the party’s culture, all leaders left the decision on the reshuffle to the high command. “We’re discussing the cabinet expansion, appointment of district and block-level chiefs of Congress and appointments in boards and corporations with our leaders,” Maken later shared.

    Maken, the AICC general secretary in charge for Rajasthan, however, did not have a date for the cabinet expansion. He will be back in Jaipur on July 28 and 29 for one-on-one meetings with all MLAs. The state cabinet can have a maximum of 30 ministers. It currently has 21, including the CM.

    The Rajasthan impasse has been on ever since Pilot, along with 18 MLAs, rebelled against Gehlot last July. Though Pilot came back to the party after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s intervention, his demands have not been met. In recent days, the demand for cabinet expansion and political appointments has gained momentum. 

  • BJP sees red in posters on Raje and Dushyant not visiting constituencies

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR:  A day ago, photo of Rajasthan’s former CM Vasundhara Raje was found missing on posters at the BJP headquarters in Jaipur. On Thursday, fresh posters were seen stuck on the walls in Jhalwar city, which said Raje and her MP son Dushyant Singh are hardly seen in their constituencies. Although these posters were removed, the developments have intensified politics in Raje’s bastion.

    The posters in Jhalwar were pasted by unidentified people  on Wednesday night. Dushyant is an MP from Jhalawar-Baran Lok Sabha constituency.  Raje is an MLA from Jhalrapatan Assembly in Jhalawar district. After hearing about the posters, BJP workers and local council employees reached the spot and tore them off. Till late on Thursday, no police case had been registered.

    Presumably because of Covid-19 restrictions, Raje has not visited her constituency for a long time. Dushyant was seen in the area during municipal elections a few months ago.  Raje supporters say she is in touch with the people of her constituency all along and working for their welfare.

    BJP district president Sanjay Jain said: “Whoever has done this petty act, it is very disgusting. Former CM Vasundhara Raje and MP Dushyant Singh are constantly in touch with the people of Jhalawar district. Even during the Corona period, they interacted with BJP workers.  They have been in touch with top officials of the district administration through virtual communication.”

    Jain said Dushyant had also caugh the Corona-19 infection.  After that, he has been holding virtual meetings with party workers of the district along with former CM Raje and taking information about problems in this area.

    ATtough Raje is the BJP vice-president at the national level , she  and her supporters have been sidelined from state politics for a long time. There is a tussle for supremacy between Raje and the RSS faction led by state party president Satish Poonia. 

    Cong tussle causes fissurePersistent tussle between Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot has led to fissures in the former royal family of Bharatpur. Family disputes as well as their opposite political leanings have pitted the father and son against each other.

    Former minister and MLA from the Deeg-Kumher constituency Vishvendra Singh, a close aide of Pilot, in a U-turn has said that he supports both Gehlot and Pilot. Vishvendra’s son and his wife are opposed to leaving the Pilot camp. Their son, Anirudh, has opposed his father without naming him.

    Vishvendra had supported Pilot last year when the latter had rebelled, eventually leading to both being sacked. However Vishwendra now has said: “I am with Ashok Gehlot as he has been made CM by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. I am also with Sachin Pilot.” Soon, Anirudh tweeted: “Betrayal, learned this word today.” Although he did not take his father’s name, it is believed the tweet was directed at him.

  • Congress takes tough stance against Rajasthan rebels    

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR:  With a faction of MLAs allied to Sachin Pilot mounting pressure on Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot government, the Congress high command on Thursday said that it will not bend to the wishes of a few. Ajay Maken, the Congress in-charge for Rajasthan, said Pilot is an asset, but the party will not be run according to the wishes of a few leaders.

    After the resignation of Congress MLA Hemaram Chaudhary, other MLAs from the Pilot camp have expressed dissent. MLA Ved Solanki has appealed to the party high command for decentralisation of power after Hemaram’s resignation. He has stated that if his demands are not met, he too will have to step down. 

    Two more MLAs from the Pilot camp—Murari Meena and Mukesh Bhakar—have come forward and asked the party leadership to listen to the demands of Chaudhary and others.  Maken said, “the party does not take decisions based on a few people’s wishes. Sachin Pilot is an asset and a star campaigner in Rajasthan. He was instrumental in getting our party elected in the state. In coming times, party will give him responsibilities keeping all of these things in mind.”