Ahead of the crucial meeting with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said the party high command will never offer any position to any leader or worker to pacify him someone.
After arriving in the national capital and while speaking to media at the airport here, Gehlot when asked about various formulae being speculated around him and party leader Sachin Pilot, he said, "Never in my life have I seen a tradition in Congress that a leader demands something or high command asks him what post he wants."
He also rubbished such reports and said that these are only the creation of the media and some leaders may be getting such stories planted."The High Command and Congress party are so strong that such a situation will never arise where an offer is made to pacify someone. It has never happened, it will never happen...," he added.
The meeting comes close on the heels of Pilot's "ultimatum" that if his three demands are not met by the end of this month then he would launch a statewide agitation.Pilot has also asked for a high-level inquiry into the alleged scams that took place during the tenure of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, as one of his many demands.
The Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) has been in a state of turmoil since July 2020, when Pilot staged a revolt seeking a leadership change in the state.Following the revolt, Pilot, who was the deputy Chief Minister, was removed from the post. He was also removed as the state Congress president.
Since then, crisis has prevailed within the party in the desert state.According to party sources, Kharge will be meeting the two separately to understand their concerns.The source, however, did not rule out the possibility of a joint meeting if both the leaders sort their differences.
The meeting of the Congress president comes after Pilot held a daylong hunger strike in Jaipur on April 11, demanding action against the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government over corruption allegations.