‘Leaders must maintain discipline’: Congress’s advice to Gehlot, Pilot after key party meeting on Rajasthan polls

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said it can win the Rajasthan Assembly polls provided there is unity and warned of strict action against those not maintaining discipline and speaking outside party forums. The party, however, indicated that it is unlikely to announce the chief ministerial face for the elections to be held later this year. The Congress claimed that it has resolved all issues while seeking to end the talks of differences between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, who have often turned against each other in public.

It added that everyone believes that they need to work together to stop the trend of the ruling party being out of power in the state.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters after the party’s strategy meeting on poll preparations in Rajasthan that all leaders agreed that the Congress can win the assembly polls due later this year, provided There should be complete unity.

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However, he refrained from commenting on any peace formula between Chief Minister Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.

When Venugopal was asked under whose leadership the party would fight the upcoming elections, he said, “We never announce a chief ministerial candidate, but we will fight the elections together and unitedly.”

The party also said that it will decide its candidates for the state polls by the first week of September and winning will be the only criteria for their selection. It has been said in this that Congress leaders will also enter the fray by running a door-to-door campaign from Friday to take the schemes of the government to the people.

The meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Randhawa, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Dotasara, Pilot and several state MLAs and ministers. Gehlot, who is recovering from fractures in both toes, is participating in the meeting through video conferencing.

Sources said there was a frank discussion about the prospects of the Congress in the upcoming elections and the ground situation and emphasis was laid on selecting candidates on the basis of surveys keeping in mind the winnability factor.

He said Gandhi said that the bureaucracy was dominant in the state and insisted that party workers should get their due in the government.

Venugopal said the meeting was a preparatory one regarding Rajasthan, during which the party leadership took some important decisions regarding election management in the state and resolved all pending issues. He said, “The Congress will fight unitedly, reverse the trend and form the Congress government again in Rajasthan.”

Venugopal said, “We are very sure that the Congress party will win in Rajasthan. The candidates will be selected on the basis of winnability. We are conducting several surveys to ensure this. We will decide the party’s candidates in the first week of September.” do.” described the meeting as “very successful and meaningful”.

Pilot expressed happiness that the AICC has taken cognizance of the issues raised by him regarding the welfare of the youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government and said the party will fight the assembly polls unitedly to achieve a massive victory.

He said that the Congress government in Rajasthan is “serious” and will take action against all corruptions committed during the BJP rule.

On the campaign starting Friday, Venugopal said Congress MLAs, leaders, grassroots workers and ministers would engage with all communities and social groups during the next 90 days.

He said that along with the party’s manifesto, the achievements of the Congress government in Rajasthan will also be discussed. He said more emphasis would be laid on coordination between the party and the government.

Venugopal said, “The party has decided to launch a completely positive campaign from tomorrow. We have decided to engage with all groups regarding the election manifesto in the coming 90 days. Party-government coordination will be strengthened.” ” The Chief Minister also participated in the meeting.

He said that it was unanimously decided that ‘we have to win Rajasthan and we can win, provided there is unanimity in Rajasthan Congress’. The Congress leader said that earlier there were differences but in today’s meeting all the leaders said that they will fight the election together.

“The party decided that from today everyone should follow strict discipline. Whatever issues are there, they have to be discussed inside the party forum. Outside the party, no one has the freedom to speak about the internal politics of the party Whether it is against the government or against the party, if anyone speaks out, strict disciplinary action will be taken.

Venugopal said that all the leaders are ready to fight the elections together and this is also the message of the meeting.

He said, “Everyone is confident that we are going to win Rajasthan. In fact, the BJP is in complete failure mode in Rajasthan. All issues have been resolved and we are going to win the election.”

When asked whether Congress MLAs are facing anti-incumbency wave in Rajasthan, Venugopal said, “Every party is facing anti-incumbency wave, our party is also facing some anti-incumbency wave. Our candidates Selection will be based on winning ability only.”

Noting that the government is doing good work in Rajasthan, he said that its schemes are very good and work should be done to take them to the ground level. That is why today’s preparatory meeting was held, the Congress leader said.

He said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi has created a positive atmosphere in the state and it will yield good results in Rajasthan as shown in Karnataka.

“We are doing homework in advance to prepare for the polls,” he said, adding that the party’s top leadership has held several rounds of meetings with leaders of all the five poll-bound states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram. Have held meetings. later this year.

The Congress leader said, “The election campaign will start soon. We are in full form to defeat the BJP.”

Venugopal also announced that the Rajasthan government would soon bring a new law on reforms in the Rajasthan Public Service Commission. He said that the government is keen to deal with the issue of question paper leak, on which a new law will also come. These were among the demands raised by the pilot earlier.

He said that Pilot also spoke very well and told the meeting that he was confident that “we will win in the state and the party will repeat its government there”.

Pilot later said that the party’s MLAs and office-bearers in Rajasthan would work together to ensure their victory in the upcoming assembly elections. He also said that it also discussed how to stop the trend of ousting the incumbent governments in the state.

Satisfied with the party’s actions and assurances on the issues raised by him, Pilot also said that he would abide by the decision of Kharge, Gandhi and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on what role he would play next.

He said that he raised the issues of corruption of the previous BJP government in the state, paper leak and reforms in the Rajasthan Public Service Commission.

Pilot expressed satisfaction that the party leadership has taken cognizance of the issues related to him and the youth and given appropriate instructions. He said that the Congress would raise the issue of corruption as an election issue in Rajasthan.

The former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan said, “There was a fruitful discussion on how to stop the trend of voting out the current government in Rajasthan. We discussed all issues with an open mind and everyone expressed confidence that we can repeat the government in Rajasthan.” Are.”

“All issues were discussed with an open mind and I am happy to inform you that everyone expressed confidence that we will work hard in the next few months and repeat our government,” he said.

The government has worked on the issues in Rajasthan and we will implement those policies and programs on the ground, he said. Pilot said, Congress organization, leaders, MLAs and ministers will work unitedly and our aim is to repeat our government in Rajasthan.