New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said the rallies being conducted by Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan were not a show of strength against chief minister Ashok Gehlot and the leadership issue would be discussed after the Srinagar rally on January 30. “His rallies are not a show of strength but to strengthen the Congress. As far as the leadership issue is concerned, I will take up the matter with party president Mallikarjun Kharge after the Srinagar rally,” AICC in charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhwa told ETV Bharat.
“For us the organization is supreme and any solution will be taken keeping that in mind,” he said. The leadership issue has been ongoing in the state for a long time with both Gehlot and Pilot flagging the need to break the electoral trend and ensure the Congress returns to power when the assembly polls take place later this year.
The Pilot camp had worked together with Gehlot recently when Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through Rajasthan and hoped the leadership issue would get resolved soon but that did not happen as the focus of the central leadership shifted to the concluding event the Congress is planning to organize in Srinagar on January 30.
As a result, Pilot briefly joined the yatra in Punjab last week and informed Rahul that he was embarking on a mass contact program. Subsequently, he announced a series of rallies in Nagaur on January 16, Hanumangarh January 17, Jhunjhunu January 18, Pali January 19 and Jaipur January 20.
Also read: Solution that will strengthen Congress in Rajasthan will be found: Ramesh on Gehlot-Pilot tussle
The rallies, which are being received well by the voters, were seen by many within the party as a show of strength by the former state unit chief and a projection of Pilot as a farmer leader who had a pan-state appeal. Pilot represents the Tonk constituency in the Rajasthan Assembly. He had earlier represented Dausa and Ajmer parliamentary constituencies in the Lok Sabha.
When Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh was asked about Pilot’s rallies, he noted that both Kharge and Randhwa were seized of the matter and were trying to work out a solution in Rajasthan. Ramesh had also hinted that the organization was the supreme for the Congress and not people while pointing out that both Gehlot and Pilot were assets for the grand old party.
Randhawa said he had been busy with the Punjab leg of the yatra and would be involved with the march till it concludes on Jan 30. “I will be busy with the Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir as well. From February, I will start touring Rajasthan zone-wise and will further review the preparedness of the state teams for the coming assembly polls,” he said.
According to Randhawa, the state government has been carrying out the welfare agenda over the past years and this would certainly help the party in the next elections. “Our government has done good work…this will help us,” he said. Over the past two days, Gehlot reviewed the work done by his ministers in the past four years and instructed them to complete the remaining ones soon.
