'Retained CM post, checkmate Pilot again': BJP takes dig at Ashok Gehlot

New Delhi, Sep 29: As Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot pulled out of the race to be the next Congress president, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday took a dig at the grand old party.

Taking to Twitter, BJP's IT-cell head Amit Malviya said by choosing not to contest Congress presidential polls, Gehlot kept the option of contesting 2023 polls and also saved himself from the "embarrassment of being a remote-control CP".

"Checkmated Pilot, again. Keeps the option of breaking the Congress in Rajasthan and contesting 2023 (assembly elections), shred the aura of invincibility around SG (Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi)," Malviya tweeted.

In a similar reaction, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla termed the Congress presidential polls as a ficed match.

"Gandhis were looking for a rubber stamp as next INC President.. clearly Gehlot did not fit the bill anymore.. so out he goes! This is not a hunt for INC President but a hunt for a rubber stamp! It's a fixed match," Poonawalla tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Gehlot apologised to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi for the unexpected political crisis in Rajasthan Congress.

"I had a conversation with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. Whatever happened two days ago shocked us. It gave a message that all of it happened as I wanted to be CM. I apologised to her," ANI quoted Gehlot in a tweet.

Accepting "moral responsibility", Ashok Gehlot decided to opt out of the race. On being asked if he will remain Rajasthan CM, Gehlot said, "I won't decide that, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will decide that."

Gehlot was pushed by the central leadership to contest the party's presidential poll, but he wanted to retain his existing post and be the party president if elected. 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.