Party sources says the former chief minister has raked up the issue with party leaders
While Rajasthan Congress is working hard to work up some warmth between its chief ministerial hopefuls Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot, the political consultancy it has hired could instead cause a flare.
The firm, which has helped plan the party's campaigns in Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana and Haryana, has been tasked with networking and fundraising activities for Rajasthan polls. But all of its reports and surveys land at Pilot's desk, leaving Gehlot antsy. Party sources said the former chief minister has raked up the issue with party leaders.
A person involved with the firm told DNA on the condition of anonymity that the reports have been going to Pilot as he is the president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee, which hired it in the first place.
To stay in the loop, Gehlot, as well as party state in-charge Avinash Pande have gone and commissioned separate firms to conduct their own surveys in the poll-bound state. The state of affairs will yield three reports, all of which will land up in the office of their chief, Rahul Gandhi.
Sources in the firm said that surveys conducted in 182 of the state's 200 assembly constituencies found a favourable mandate for the Grand Old Party in about 120 seats. Furthermore, they revealed that Pilot is likely to be the "winning horse".
Conducted over the past three months, the surveys sampled 6,000-7,000 people per booth.
Villages were chosen booth-wise, keeping in mind the dominant caste in the booth, and the people were so chosen that it was about 3 per cent of a booth.
With the state going to the polls in January, the Congress will have to work to bridge internal differences.
Both Gehlot and Pilot are hoping to move into 13, Civil Lines, the official chief ministerial bungalow.
When Gehlot was appointed as the party's organisational secretary by Rahul Gandhi earlier this year, it was perceived as a way to appease the senior leader.
But from how things have been during canvassing, with competition hotting up between the two, Gehlot is still a claimant to the chief minister's post.
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 "Rajasthan Cong chief Sachin Pilot and former CM Ashok Gehlot")
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