Jaipur. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting with party MLAs late on Tuesday, amid discussions about being made the candidate for the post of Congress President. It is being told that he will leave for Delhi on Wednesday and he is scheduled to stay in Delhi for the next one week. It is also being told that on next Monday i.e. 26 September, he can file nomination for the post of Congress President. However, Gehlot is still hoping that Rahul Gandhi might agree to become the president. A day earlier, a resolution was sent by Rajasthan Congress to make Rahul the President again.
However, it is believed that keeping in mind the conditions after being made a contender for the post of Speaker, Chief Minister Gehlot sought the opinion of the MLAs. It is also being said that after becoming the President, he will have to leave the post of Chief Minister. They are also making their preparations regarding who will replace him. In this also he has to know the opinion of the MLAs, about which he will inform the party high command in Delhi. Party’s Deputy Chief Whip Mahendra Chaudhary said that all the MLAs would be present at one place for the function in honor of the Governor, so a meeting of the Legislature Party was called to save time.
It is noteworthy that the nomination for Congress President will start from September 24 and the process of nomination will go on till September 30. If necessary, polling will be held on October 17. It is likely that senior party leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor will file his nomination for the post. He had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening and after that it was told that Sonia Gandhi has given him the green signal to contest the elections. If Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor contest, the election for Congress President will be held after 22 years. The last time Sonia Gandhi and Jitendra Prasad met was in November 2000.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting with Congress MLAs late at 10 pm. Before that, a banquet was organized in the Chief Minister’s residence in the honor of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. After this there was a meeting of the legislators. The MLAs were not informed about the agenda of the meeting in advance. It is being told that before leaving for Delhi, Gehlot discussed with the MLAs so that they can give feedback to the party high command. According to sources in the Congress, Gehlot is the first choice of the party high command but before the nomination he will once again try to persuade Rahul Gandhi.
Venugopal meets Sonia
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal met Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday. The Bharat Jodi Yatra is going on in Venugopal’s home state of Kerala. In the middle of that visit he came to Delhi and met the Congress President. It is being told that a message was sent to him from the Congress President to come to Delhi. On Monday evening, Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor met Sonia Gandhi and it is being told that she talked about contesting the election of Congress President.
