NEW DELHI: A Congress legislative party (CLP) meeting will be held on Sunday in Jaipur at Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot's residence amid a buzz that a new CM will be announced. This is the second CLP meeting within a week. The last meeting was held on September 20.
Gehlot is a frontrunner to become the next Congress president. However, the party's 'one-man, one-post' rule will not allow him to hold both posts. Sachin Pilot is seen as a possible candidate to replace Gehlot.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed Mallikarjun Kharge as observer. AICC in-charge of Rajasthan Ajay Maken will also attend the meeting, slated to be held at 7 pm. Earlier in the day, Ajay Maken had held a meeting with Sonia Gandhi.
Hectic lobbyingFormer Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot has undertaken hectic lobbying for the CM's post. After Gehlot said the next CM will be decided by the Congress high command in consultation with party MLAs, Pilot has been reaching out to all the legislators.
On Friday, he had met Speaker CP Joshi and party chief whip Mahesh Joshi in the latter's chamber.
It is, however, not clear whether Gehlot would first step down as CM and contest the Congress election, or resign after that. It is learnt that the party top brass has asked Pilot to stay put in Jaipur and meet MLAs till a final decision is taken.
Pilot's 2020 rebellion, which nearly brought down Gehlot's government in 2020, is widely seen as a red mark on his credentials but sources said he is still the first choice of the Congress leadership for succeeding Gehlot.
Where the party faces trouble is Gehlot's complete hold over the Rajasthan legislature party, which many believe will make the functioning difficult for anyone who doesn't enjoy his approval.
Sources said that Gehlot may recommend Rajasthan speaker CP Joshi's name for the post of CM.
Congress president raceGehlot is yet to file his nomination papers for the Congress president race. Meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor, a major contender for the top party post, collected his forms on Saturday, becoming the first to officially enter the race.
The window to file nomination papers opened on Saturday and will close on September 30. Elections will take place on October 17 and the new Congress chief will be announced on October 19.
On Friday, Gehlot had made it clear that there will be no candidate from the Gandhi family this time. This will be the first time in 25 years that Congress will see a non-Gandhi chief after Sonia Gandhi replaced Sitaraman Kesri as party chief in 1998.
(With inputs from agencies)
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