Ashok Gehlot ready to quit CM seat for Congress chief post

Ashok Gehlot will not occupy the posts of Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress president simultaneously. The development comes after Rahul Gandhi on Thursday made it clear that the ‘one person, one post’ norm formulated at the Udaipur conclave is expected to be honoured.

Rahul’s unequivocal remarks on ‘one person, one post’ came as the party set the ball rolling for the first election for president’s post in 22 years with the issuance of poll notification on Thursday. The remarks also came as Gehlot upon his arrival in Kerala to meet Rahul and join 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' reiterated that he could continue in both the posts.

Read | Cong president not just a post, but a belief system: Rahul Gandhi

Sources said that Gehlot is willing to let go Chief Ministership, as the High Command is not in favour of him holding two posts, but will lobby hard to install his loyalist at the helm state to deny his bete noir Sachin Pilot the top post in the state. Pilot is learnt to have the support of the High Command for the Chief Minister’s post, though there was no official word on it.

Pilot, who was in Kochi with Rahul and the yatra, reached Delhi as Gehlot touched down in Kerala. After his meeting with Rahul, Gehlot said that there is no precedence of a leader holding the post of party president and Chief Minister. "If I get a chance, then I will work as Congress president," Gehlot said.

Senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh are also of the view that Gehlot should hold only one position. Singh, whose comments in a TV interview triggered speculation that he may also file nominations but was later denied, said he was not contesting the elections.

Addressing a press conference in Karukutty in Kerala’s Ernakulam, Rahul said, “we have decided on certain commitments. I expect that commitments will be maintained.” He was responding to a question on the ‘one person, one post’ norm with regard to Congress president election.

Read | Manish Tewari preparing to contest Congress president poll

The remarks assume significance as Gehlot on Wednesday and Thursday had attempted to suggest that he could continue in both the posts, as these were elected posts, and the one person, one post norm applied to only those posts nominated by the High Command. During his meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot is learnt to have suggested that he should be allowed to keep Chief Ministership at least for some time.

In his press conference, Rahul refused to answer questions on whether he would contest presidential polls as he asked journalists to refer to his statement in his previous press conference. He had then said that one should wait till September 30 and if he does not file nominations, then the question of why he was not contesting should be posed.

“Questions on whether I will contest the Congress president election are designed to distract from yatra. I will not fall into that trap,” he said, as he welcomed a contest in the party for the post. He said everybody has a right to contest and it was “not a bad thing, but a good thing”.

Asked what would be his advice to the new president, he said, “Congress president post is not just an organisational post, it is an ideological post, a belief system. My advice to whosoever becomes the president is that they should remember that the post represents a set of ideas, a belief system and a vision of India.”

Gehlot is likely to lock horns with senior MP Shashi Tharoor in the elections to be held on October 17. Party’s Central Election Authority Chairman Madhusudan Mistry issued the notification for the election with a promise that the process will be “free and fair” and would not be influenced by the political posturing by contenders and supporters.

The nominations will start on September 24 and end on September 30 while scrutiny will take place on October 1 and the last date of withdrawal is October 8. Gehlot and Tharoor are likely to file nominations around September 26.

Intense deliberations are being held with senior leaders meeting party chief Sonia Gandhi in the past couple of days. While Tharoor met Sonia on Monday, Gehlot called on her on Wednesday and was closeted with her for two hours. Senior leaders KC Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik and Pawan Kumar Bansal also had discussions with Sonia.

Though Sonia has been maintaining that she will remain “neutral”, she had earlier urged Gehlot to “lead the party” especially after it became clear that Rahul refused to reconsider his stand not to return as party chief.

“No hard and fast rule that the president should be from Gandhi family. Will support one who is capable of leading the party. Whether I will support Tharoor or not will be known after Sep 30. The Kerala unit has not taken any decision not to support Tharoor,” G-23 leader PJ Kurien told reporters here.