Gehlot vs Pilot: Congress makes SOS call to Kamal Nath to defuse Rajasthan crisis

Jaipur, Sep 26: As the crisis deepens for Congress in Rajasthan, senior party leader Kamal Nath has been called in to defuse the situation after the efforts of state in-charge Ajay Maken and Observer Mallikarjun Kharge went in vain.

The Congress high command has asked Kamal Nath to reach Delhi immediately, news agency ANI reported citing sources.

The development comes a day after 90 odd MLAs from Rajasthan Congress refused to attend the CLP meeting, which was supposed to be in the presence of AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken.

The CM supporters have indicated that they do not want Sachin Pilot as Gehlot's successor and want the next CM to be someone who was instrumental in saving the government during the 2020 crisis.

In a show of strength, several loyalists Gehlot submitted their resignation to Speaker on Sunday as they were not consulted over Gehlot's successor.

Gehlot loyalists MLAs said they have put forth demands before the observers that any decision on the CM's face be taken after the party president election on October 19 and in consultation with Gehlot.

Ashok Gehlot was reportedly willing to remain as both Rajasthan CM and the party's national president. However, Rahul Gandhi was against it and batted for the "one-man, one-post" concept in line with the Chintan Shivir reforms earlier this year.

If Gehlot is pulled out, Digvijaya Singh and Mukul Wasnik might join the race.