Ending months of speculation, the party high command placed its bet on Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot who was made the chairman of the state election committee.
Congress, on Thursday, answered the million dollar question in Rajasthan politics. Who will take a call on the tickets for contesting the upcoming Assembly elections? Ending months of speculation, the party high command placed its bet on Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot who was made the chairman of the state election committee.
The committee will supervise the distribution of tickets and selection of candidates who would be contesting on Congress symbol — the hand.
Former chief minister and AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot has not been included in the state election committee but gets to helm the election coordination committee which shall be responsible for streamlining the work of remaining 7 committees.
"A total of nine committees have been constituted for conducting the elections in Rajasthan," An AICC release said. The state election committee will be headed by Pilot. Leader of the Opposition in Vidhan Sabha, Rameshwar Dudi, has been appointed as the co-chairman of the committee, while Ramesh Meena steps in as the convenor. "All heads of the committees will be the members of the election coordination committee by default, which means Pilot shall be a part of the coordination committee as well," an official said.
The announcement of the committees is expected to dissipate the ongoing cold war between Gehlot and Pilot. Surveys by the party and independent agencies may give Congress an upper hand in the polls, but Sachin Pilot is locked in a battle of supremacy with Ashok Gehlot whose heart, in spite of his national portfolio, continues to beat for Rajasthan. Both camps have been actively engaged in identifying and pushing their candidates for contesting the polls in 200 Assembly segments in state.
There are ticket-seekers who have been meeting both leaders on the sly. Then there are candidates loyal to both the leaders who are openly asserting their stake on seats in different divisions of Rajasthan. For instance, in Jaipur's Civil Lines constituency, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas is already selling himself as the Congress candidate. Khachariyawas is a known Pilot loyalist. Pilot rewarded him by making him the spokesperson of the party.
Sources, however, claimed that Om Rajoria, who is aligned with Gehlot has also thrown his hat in the ring. "Rajoria is banking on Gehlot as the two are of the same community," a Congressman said.
Like Khachariyawas, in Khimsar, Nagaur, there is a contest on cards as to who bags the ticket. Sources say while Pilot's choice is Sahdev Choudhary who recently quit BJP on his insistence and joined the party. However, Harendra Mirda, who hails from an influential Jat family, is believed to be Gehlot's bet.
This is not the first time when the party is having to deal with two power centres ahead of polls. In 2013 Assembly elections, which saw the exit of Congress government from state, there was a bitter dispute between Gehlot and CP Joshi. In 2013, when CP Joshi was appointed head of Assembly poll campaign, Gehlot, who was the then chief minister, had an altercation with him over ticket distribution in a meeting held in Jaipur. At that time Gehlot was of the view that leaders who lost election by a margin over 15,000 votes should not be given ticket, to which Joshi objected and willed his way into getting them considered for contesting polls.
According to highly informed sources, the party high command is well aware that both leaders would press for their candidates. "They have already asked for names from both the leaders and shall take a final call with their consent," a senior party official said.
Kumari Selja, chairperson of the screening committee, has started the exercise of short-listing candidates. To avoid any conflict of interest, the party is setting up a panel of three candidates in every seat. "The panels for all 200 seats would be sent to Rahul Gandhi soon. The fist list of the party is expected by October 25," a Congressman said.
Some of the constituencies where a contest is on cards between the loyalists of both leaders are Civil Lines (Jaipur), Khimsar (Nagaur), Kishangarh (Ajmer), Chomu (Jaipur rural), Malpura (Tonk), Tonk, Navalgarh (Jhunjhunu)
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