'Accept Gehlot's resignation, spare Rajasthan': BJP tells Sonia Gandhi amid Cong crisis

On Saturday, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot came under fire over his admission that his resignation letter has been in the possession of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Latching on to this, Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia attributed the plight of the state to the confusion over leadership.

Maintaining that farmers, youths, Dalits and the oppressed of Rajasthan are in distress, he appealed to Gandhi to accept the resignation of Gehlot with immediate effect and spare the people of the state from further agony. 

"Now we came to know why the governance of Rajasthan is so bad. The Chief Minister himself is accepting that his resignation is with Sonia Gandhi. The way in which the people of the state were misled by the advent of the Congress government in 2018, the people of Rajasthan will clear this confusion in 2023," Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia opined. 

Addressing an event a day earlier, Gehlot said, Ashok Gehlot said, “My resignation is permanently with Sonia Gandhi. When Congress decides to change the chief minister, no one will get a hint. No deliberation will be done on changing the Chief Minister. Congress high command is independent to take decisions and I would appeal to everyone to not pay heed to rumors as it affects governance.”

Leadership tussle in Rajasthan

Gehlot's remarks came in the wake of speculation about a change of guard in Rajasthan after Sachin Pilot met the Congress president on April 21. As per sources, Pilot gave an ultimatum to Gandhi to change the leadership in the state citing that the party will lose all polls under Gehlot.

This assumes significance as Gehlot failed to bring back Congress to power for the second consecutive time in 2003 as well as 2013 when he was the CM, with Vasundhara Raje leading BJP to a victory on both occasions.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Sachin Pilot said, "Rajasthan is a state where every 5 yrs there's a government change and I think if we do the right things like we have started to do as a Committee of the AICC was formed two years ago, through which some steps were taken in the right direction. We need to further move in that direction so that Congress wins the 2023 elections in Rajasthan".

He had fallen out of favour after briefly leading a rebellion in July 2020 after which he was sacked as the Deputy CM and the Rajasthan Congress chief.