Rajasthan: Congress MLAs say high-command's decision on next CM should have consensus

Congresss chief whip in the Rajasthan Assembly Mahesh Joshi on Monday said the party MLAs have no objection to whoever is made the chief minister but the final decision of the highcommand should be agreeable to themMeanwhile a video purportedly of a meeting of the Congress MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has surfaced Minister Shanti Dhariwal at whose residence the meeting took place is heard saying in the video that the Congress will suffer losses if Gehlot is removed from the chief ministers postGehlot along with state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra met AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken at a hotel on the JaipurDelhi highway on Monday Some of the Congress MLAs were also seen at the hotelKharge and Maken left for Delhi after the meetingThe Congress in Rajasthan plunged into a crisis on Sunday as several MLAs loyal to Gehlot resigned over a possible move to appoint Sachin Pilot as Gehlots successor their rebellion erupting just ahead of a Congress Legislature Party meetingJoshi said the MLAs have no objection to whoever is made the chief minister but the final decision taken by the party highcommand should be agreeable to themThe doubts of the MLAs should be cleared by the highcommand and then whatever decision is taken will be accepted We do not have any objection if anyone is made the chief minister but the final decision should have consensus he told reporters hereJoshi also said the ministers that met the AICC observers at the chief ministers residence on Sunday night had not asked them to include the conditions of the MLAs in the partys resolutionIt was not that we wanted everything in the resolution Maybe we failed to make them the observers understand or it is also possible that we tried but they did not understand But we did not talk about any kind of amendment in the resolution he saidAlso Read Rajasthan political crisis Kharge meets Gehlot underlines need for discipline in partyJoshi said it is wrong to say the ministers did not meet Kharge and Maken adding that the MLAs had authorised a delegation to put their demands before the party observers which it didJoshi himself along with Dhariwal and Pratap Singh Khachariyawas met the AICC observers on Sunday nightJoshi said they put forward three conditions a decision on the selection of the chief minister should be taken after the Congress presidential poll the chief minister should be from among those MLAs who stood with the government during the political crisis in 2020 and not from the Pilot camp and the AICC observers should hold meetings in groups instead of oneonone as sought by the highcommandOn the other hand Congress MLA Giriraj Singh Malinga said the government does not have a majority in the Assembly after the resignation of the Gehlot loyalistsHe said a midterm election is the best way forwardThe speaker should accept the resignation of the MLAs The government is in minority I understand that a midterm election is the best way Everyone will get to know about their standing the MLA from Badi saidMalinga who was once a Gehlot loyalist did not attend a meeting of the Congress MLAs at Dhariwals residence on Sunday He was booked in a case recently after which his relations with the Gehlot government worsenedMalinga said there were 30 ministers who attended the meeting at Dhariwals residence and they are the ones who are most worried about a change of guard in the stateThe ministers are worried that they will lose their chairs if a new cabinet is formed They did not work for the people were busy in their own arrangements and they are the ones who are protesting I am with the highcommand whether Ashok Gehlot Sachin Pilot or anyone else is made the chief minister he saidThe Pilot loyalists are maintaining a silence over the developments and refraining to speak much before the mediaOne of them Khiladi Lal Bairwa however said We are with the highcommand Whatever decision is taken will be accepted This is what we had said on Sunday as wellAsked what problem does Gehlot have with Pilot Bairwa said He Gehlot will be able to say it better We are with the highcommand in every decisionMeanwhile a video purportedly of the meeting of the Gehlot loyalists at Dhariwals residence has surfaced in which the latter is seen saying the Congress will suffer losses if Gehlot is removed as the chief ministerHe said the chief minister does not hold two posts that his resignation is being soughtHe has one post that of the chief minister When he gets another post then the matter will arise Today when the matter has not cropped up why are you getting ready to resign The conspiracy that made the party lose power in Punjab is about to play out in Rajasthan as well Dhariwal is heard telling the MLAs in the videoRajasthan will be saved only if you people wake up otherwise it too will also slip out of our hands he saidDhariwal also said Speaker CP Joshi was never in the chief ministerial race neither did Gehlot take his name for the postOn day one itself C P Joshi had said no to the post He had said he is happy with the post he is holding Neither was he in the race of candidature nor was he made a candidate A controversy was created by planting a news in the media Dhariwal saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever