New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has apologised to senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. According to sources, Ashok Gehlot has told Mallikarjun Kharge that he has nothing to do with the rebellion of the MLAs.
On the other hand, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has sought a written reply from senior party leaders Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge over the absence of MLAs in the legislature party meeting on Sunday evening.
The party high command had called a meeting of the legislature party in Jaipur at 7 pm on Sunday.
According to sources, the name of the new CM of the state could have been decided in this meeting.
But just before this meeting, he met at the house of Gahlot Camp MLA Shanti Dhariwal, who is said to be close to CM Gehlot. And after this meeting, he tried to put pressure on the party high command that the next CM of the state should be from his camp. According to sources, more than 90 MLAs of the Gehlot camp were ready to resign if they did not listen.
In view of this tussle within the Rajasthan Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken, who were sent from Delhi in a hurry, had to postpone the legislature party meeting. The Congress high command is very angry about this whole sequence of events.
The party has termed the MLA’s meeting ahead of the legislature party meeting as disciplinary. Senior party leader and Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken told reporters today about the incident. “I and Kharge ji have apprised the Congress president about the situation in Rajasthan.”
He said, “Sonia Gandhi has asked us for a written report from us. We will give that report by tonight or tomorrow morning. We had told Sonia Gandhi everything in detail. This morning in Jaipur too, I had said that the Congress Legislature Party meeting which was held last evening was proposed only after the chief minister’s request. The time and place of that meeting was decided only by asking Chief Minister Gehlot.”