AICC general secretary Ajay Maken stated on Sunday that there is no disagreement among Rajasthan’s party leaders on the proposed cabinet reshuffle, and that the decision has been left to the central leadership.
Maken stated that after meeting with ministers, MLAs, and party office bearers at the party office here, they had voiced confidence in the reshuffle decision made by the party high leadership.
Maken did not say when the cabinet would be expanded, although he will be in the state capital again on July 28. He told reporters, “I can state that there is no conflict among the party leaders, and they have all left the final decision on cabinet extension to the party high leadership.”
For the meeting, Maken and AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal came at the party office in Jaipur. Inflation and the Pegasus situation, he claimed, were discussed. “People in the country are suffering from rising inflation, and many have lost jobs as a result of the pandemic. Instead of spending money and resources on the people, the central government has been eavesdropping and spying on the country’s leaders, journalists, and judges. This is extremely reprehensible “he stated
Maken responded to a question about the BJP’s allegations that PCC chief and Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra influenced the Rajasthan Administrative Services 2018 interview process in favour of two relatives by saying Dotasra is being cornered because he had targeted RSS leader Nimbaram and the BJP. Nimbaram, the RSS’s regional pracharak, is mentioned in a FIR filed with the Anti-Corruption Bureau in a graft case, and Dotasra recently stated that the state government would offer the RSS leader “therapy.”
He seemed to be implying that he would take action against the leader. Maken said he would travel to Jaipur on July 28 to meet with MLAs on the party’s appointment of district and block presidents.
Venugopal and Maken met with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence late Saturday night to discuss cabinet restructuring and political appointments. After Punjab, the party’s high command has turned its attention to Rajasthan, where reports of resentment in the camp led by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who along with 18 MLAs rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership, last year, have fueled calls for Cabinet expansion and political appointments.
Pilot had stated three days ago that the Congress would take appropriate action to solve the issues he had identified. He stated that he is in contact with the party’s top command about the issues that he has raised, and that he hopes that the necessary steps will be made shortly.
MLAs from the Pilot camp said last month that the party should keep the pledges it made to Pilot last month, which fueled calls for Cabinet expansion and political appointments.
The council of ministers currently has 21 members, including the chief minister, and nine seats are vacant. Rajasthan can only have 30 ministers at a time. Pilot was fired as deputy chief minister and chairman of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) in July of last year after he defied Gehlot’s leadership. Following a one-month political crisis, the party’s top leadership announced the formation of a three-member committee to investigate the problems presented by him.
