Party fails to come out with its first list of candidates on Wednesday even after BJP released second one
Too many cooks could be spoiling Congress' broth in Rajasthan. With too many political heavyweights in the fray in the poll-bound state, the list of the party's candidates in Rajasthan has seen a lot of delays, making state leaders antsy. What's making matters worse is that rival BJP has declared its second list of 31 candidates on Wednesday. Its first list of 131 candidates was released on Sunday.
Party insiders said one of the reasons is that party high command felt AICC secretaries sent to the state for feedback and drawing up lists did not do a good job. And the group reconvened. "The focus will now be shifted to youth and women," said a party worker in the know.
To add to that is the abundance of leaders from Rajasthan who are either close to Rahul Gandhi or have access to his ear. As most of them are spread across the state, they want to exert their sway over who gets tickets in their region. Most of them also belong to different communities.
"They wish for more of their supporters to get elected to support their claim for CM post," said a senior leader on condition of anonymity.
As of now, state and AICC leaders have held over seven meetings for tickets in the last three days at the party's Gurudwara Rakabganj Road office, at party president Rahul Gandhi's residence at Tughlaq Road and at AICC Headquarters at Akbar Road as well.
PCC chief Sachin Pilot has the added advantage of having represented Dausa and Ajmer as MP. Similarly, two-time CM Ashok Gehlot, who hails from Marwar in Jodhpur division, yields a clout. There is Harish Choudhary too, who has grown in stature as Marwar has the largest number of seats.
In addition, leader of Opposition Rameshwar Dudi from Bikaner region, who has close ties to Gehlot, has made little effort to conceal his chief ministerial aspirations, lobbying for tickets even beyond Bikaner region. A few days ago, a row broke out between Pilot and Dudi over fielding candidates in Pali. While Pilot wanted to field MP Gopal Singh Shekhawat 'Idwa', Dudi was keen on Dilip Choudhary.
Why The Delay
According to Congress sources, the leaders are just not limiting themselves to lobbying for candidates in their regions but are stepping into the zones and on to the toes of others too; creating more animosity; thereby delaying the list.
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