NEW DELHI: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Friday said he would “definitely” run for party chief and any decision on who will replace him as Rajasthan CM will be taken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Gehlot’s desire to simultaneously hold the posts of Congress president and Rajasthan CM was dashed with Rahul Gandhi ruling it out completely and backing the “one man one post” rule. Gehlot is apparently making all possible attempts to prevent arch-party rival Sachin Pilot from replacing him.
Gehlot is believed to have given the high command a list of names to replace him if such a situation arose.
Apart from Gehlot, and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, the names of Digvijaya Singh, who has said his name should not be ruled out, Kamal Nath and Manish Tewari are doing the rounds.
The Congress high command has indicated it will not favour any candidate. The party’s spokespersons have been instructed not make any comment or attack any leaders who will be contesting as it was only strengthening the party’s democratic process.
The process of filing nominations for the election will be held from Saturday, September 24, till September 30. The date for the scrutiny of the nomination papers will be October 1, while the last date for withdrawals is October 8.
