The coming weeks will be a tightrope walk for Gehlot who has 100 loyalists MLAs waiting to be rewarded on one side and the dissidents who wanted to be rehabilitated on the other, observes Prakash Bhandari.
The division bench of the court, hearing the dissident MLAs petition against the Speaker's notices, adjourned Friday evening. It fixed the next hearing for 10 am on Monday. The counsel for the Speaker assured the court that no order shall be passed on the notice till 5.30 pm on Tuesday.
Congress and independent MLAs, who had expectations from the cabinet expansion but were not accommodated in the reshuffle, would be adjusted in political appointments.
Pilot has spoken to a senior party leader from southern India on Thursday laying conditions for his return.
Bidhuri's responsibility will be akin to the party's poll in-charge of the district, sources said.
Ashok Gehlot, widely seen as the Congress's ruling family's nominee for the Congress president's post, bunged a spanner in the works when his MLA supporters submitted their resignations on Sunday night to assembly Speaker C P Joshi.
This tweet came following Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's remark on July 15, when without naming Pilot, he said leaders from new generation have become Union ministers and state chiefs without much toil.
There was no official word on the number of MLAs who attended the meeting at Gehlot's home, but party leaders claimed 106 legislators were there.
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
The development suggested a worsening power struggle between the chief minister and Sachin Pilot who was tipped to be Gehlot's replacement after he declared his candidature for the Congress president's post.
The visit comes amid the campaign for the November 25 assembly polls in Rajasthan, where the Congress hopes to return to power.
Dominic Xavier wonders how a rebel leader -- and clearly, Gehlot is one after Sunday's rebellion by his MLA supporters, no matter his assertions to the high command's emissaries that he has no links to the mutiny -- can now lead the national party which so badly needs the adhesive of unity and tender care.
Several MLAs loyal to Gehlot, who was seen as the frontrunner for the post of Congress national president, had last week submitted resignation letters over a possible move to appoint Pilot as the next chief minister.
The Congress also has the support of 10 out of 13 independents, and other party MLAs like Rashtriya Lok Dal (1), which is its ally.
These are the 15 seats to watch out for in Rajasthan where assembly elections will be held on November 23. The state has 200 constituencies.
'The nation cannot afford a government indifferent to its plight/'
Priyanka Gandhi's son Rehan was also seen matching steps with Rahul Gandhi.
"All legislators will remain united and stay together till August 14," Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi said after the CLP meeting chaired by Gehlot.
Singh met Congress president Rahul Gandhi before joining the party.
Ashok Gehlot has proved that a strong state leader can challenge the Congress high command.
Ending days of suspense, the Congress on Friday announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades, and Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, will fight from Amethi.
On seeing them, Gandhi got off his vehicle, walked up to them and shook hands with several people in the crowd.
With the deepening political crisis in Rajasthan over the appointment of Ashok Gehlot's successor, Congress Working Committee members have demanded from Sonia Gandhi to pull the state chief minister out of the race for the party chief and select another candidate for the top post, sources said on Monday.
Stressing the need to clearly define what constitutes the legal lobbying activities by business groups in India, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot on Monday said lobbyists should present their views to policymakers in public and not behind the closed doors.
'India mattered to him and he wanted to matter to India.'
Dominic Xavier offers his take on Sachin Pilot's ejection as Rajasthan deputy chief minister.
An unease has set in the Rajasthan Congress with its senior leader Ajay Maken quitting as the state in-charge ahead of the assembly polls scheduled next year, with party sources saying that he has been asked to continue on the post.
The CLP meeting began about three hours later than scheduled, with ministers and MLAs flashed victory signs for the cameras.
Ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Rajasthan, a committee comprising three state ministers on Monday held talks with a delegation from Gujjar community to address their demands related to reservation and other issues.
Opposition leaders have slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over its Lok Sabha member Ramesh Bidhuri, who is in the eye of a storm for his derogatory comments against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali, being given poll responsibility by the party in Rajasthan's Tonk district.
Asserting that the Congress government in the state will not only complete its five years but will also win the next assembly elections, Gehlot again accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of conspiring to topple his government at any cost.
This comes a day after he targeted the saffron party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, asking why they were not chanting 'Jai Siyaram' and 'Hey Ram'.
Senior party leader Ahmed Patel, general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken and general secretary organisation KC Venugopal have been made members of the panel.
The meeting is expected to start at 11 am at the hotel on the city outskirts where Congress legislators in support of the Ashok Gehlot government are camping.
Slamming Narendra Modi for making rhetorical speeches on every given occasion, Union Minister Sachin Pilot says that the Gujarat chief minister is intoxicated with prime ministerial ambitions and is too self-obsessed to see "right from wrong".
Gaurav Gogoi will head the screening committee for Rajasthan with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot included among the ex-officio members of the panel.
"Where did we make any statement against the party? We wanted to draw the attention of the party high-command to the fact that we were not able to deliver on things promised in the manifesto for which the public elected us," Vishvendra Singh said in a video message.
Who will win in the end? The Dashing Pilot or the elderly warhorse?
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot submitted his resignation to Governor Kalraj Mishra Sunday evening after his Congress party was defeated in the assembly polls.
While the two MLAs will abstain in the event of a trust vote in the assembly, it is, however, not a withdrawal of support.
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