New Delhi: Digvijay Singh's entry into the race for the next Congress president on Thursday gave a new twist to the controversy around the candidature of Ashok Gehlot, who was under pressure to resign as chief minister, but decided to quit the party presidency contest reasoning the rebellion in his state.
Shortly after meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot said he won't contest the polls as he takes responsibility for the chinks surfacing in Congress cadres in Rajasthan. Initially, Gehlot had been chosen for the top party post by Sonia, who was miffed over the rebellion staged last Sunday by the MLAs loyal to the chief minister.
The rebellion happened because Gehlot wanted to retain the post of chief minister. He was convinced by some senior leaders over the past two days to strike a compromise with the high command with suspense finally ending as he himself backed out of the contest. The AICC wanted a smooth transition of power in Rajasthan, promoting Gehlot as the next party chief and Sachin Pilot as the new chief minister, an equation that led to the rebellion.
Sources said the controversy around the presidential polls was unnecessary and has in fact shadowed the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi. With Gehlot out, the focus now shifts to Digvijay Singh pitted against Shashi Tharoor. On Thursday, Digvijay Singh met Tharoor at the latter's residence.
Also read: Cong prez polls: Ashok Gehlot out; Digvijay versus Tharoor now
"Received a visit from @digvijaya_28 this afternoon. I welcome his candidacy for the Presidency of our Party. We both agreed that ours is not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest among colleagues. All we both want is that whoever prevails. @incIndia will win," Tharoor wrote tweeting a photograph of the two embracing each other.
Digvijay Singh, who has been coordinating the yatra from day one, had been upbeat over the unprecedented public response to the foot march in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The suspense related to the key party polls led to various power groups becoming active within the party over the past two days, said party insiders.
The name of Digvijay Singh, who was in Kerala, supervising the Bharat Jodo Yatra, was thought of then and the veteran was asked to rush to Delhi by the high command. Interestingly, Singh and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal travelled in the same flight from Kerala which landed in Delhi Wednesday night.
Before Singh collected his papers from the office of the Central Election Authority and announced that he would file the nomination on September 30, the veteran had an hour-long meeting with another senior leader P Chidambaram at Digvijay’s residence. At around the same time, Venugopal met Sonia Gandhi and many senior leaders, including Mukul Wasnik, had a discussion with Gehlot to know his mind.
On Wednesday night, Gehlot had tried to be politically correct by saying that Sonia Gandhi was the one who took all decisions in the Congress and everybody obeys her, while noting that the recent revolt of MLAs was like a misunderstanding which often takes place in a big family. The focus of the party he said was on fighting the divisive forces unitedly for which Rahul was leading the yatra.
Also read: "Internal politics goes on, we will resolve it": Ashok Gehlot on Rajasthan crisis
Interestingly, Gehlot had announced that he would file nomination for the top party post after meeting Rahul in Kerala a few days ago. Hours before that Pilot too had met Rahul. Before the Sunday revolt by the Rajasthan MLAs, the Gehlot camp had floated rumours that the veteran was not willing to give up his chief ministerial position.
As Gehlot backed out on Thursday, the rumours, after all, had some truth to them. Digvijay Singh, who will file his papers on September 30, the last date for nominations, clarified that he has decided to join the fray on his own and had not consulted the Gandhis over the issue. However, it was unlikely, said party insiders, given Singh’s proximity to both Sonia and Rahul.
According to sources, before the entry of Digvijay Singh, show cause notices to three of Gehlot’s close aides Shanti Dhariwal, Mahesh Joshi and Dharmedra Rathore was also a move to send a message to the veteran. The chief minister was not indicted directly in the revolt episode with a purpose, said the party insiders.
Amid the buzz around Digvijay, the AICC disciplinary committee head AK Antony discussed the issue with member Tariq Anwar, who had sent the notices to the three state leaders after AICC in charge Ajay Maken submitted a report to Sonia Gandhi on what went wrong in Rajasthan.
