Express News Service
NEW DELHI: While trouble is brewing in Rajasthan Congress with unsettled leadership issues and growing discontent among party MLAs, the top leadership has decided to wait and watch the situation keeping in mind the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and presidential elections scheduled in July.
The recent incidents of party MLA Ashok Chandna slamming the Ashok Gehlot government in the state and another MLA and tribal leader Ganesh Ghogra’s resignation blaming state bureaucracy have further increased trouble for the Congress government in the state. The leadership tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot continues to remain unaddressed.
A senior party leader said that “there will be finality on the matter in the next two months” and some cabinet changes are expected before the assembly elections next year.
The trouble in the state has been going on for a while now but the party has failed to take a decision on lingering leadership issues with Pilot pressing for replacing the chief minister. But, the party is cautious not to delay the matter if the situation goes out of control along the lines of what happened to the party in Punjab.
“The party is keeping in mind Rajya Sabha elections and upcoming presidential polls. Any decision (on leadership issue) now means annoying MLAs from both camps and that could spoil the mathematics for upcoming polls to the upper house,” said sources.
The elections for four Rajya Sabha seats are scheduled early next month and the ruling party is hopeful of getting 3 of 4 seats. The Rajasthan assembly having 200 seats, winning a candidate for Rajya Sabha would require 41 votes. The Congress claims that it will manage 123 votes (needed to win three seats) while BJP having 71 MLAs could win only one.
The Congress has 108 MLAs, including 6 BSP MLAs who merged with the Congress, 13 independents (majority Gehlot supporters), 2 MLAs of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and 1 from the Rashtriya Lok Dal. There are 2 MLAs from Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) and three MLAs from Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party – both are unlikely to vote for the BJP.