Ashok Gehlot calls late-night meeting of Rajasthan MLAs ahead of his Delhi visit

Amid reports of being the front-runner in the Congress presidential polls, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is expected to call on incumbent party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday before he flies off to Kerala to join Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.

Mr. Gehlot could reveal his mind at a late-night meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) that he convened at 10 p.m. in Jaipur on Tuesday. Party MLAs, who were present at a dinner function to felicitate Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, have been asked to stay back for the meeting.

So far, the Rajasthan Chief Minister has been sending mixed signals about taking up the top party job as it could mean giving up his chief ministership.

It is well known that Mr. Gehlot is averse to handing over the chief ministerial position to his former deputy and rival, Sachin Pilot. Interestingly, the CLP meeting comes in the absence of Mr. Pilot, who left for Kerala to join the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on Tuesday afternoon.

Though former party chief Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to change his mind about not contesting, Mr. Gehlot is expected to give one more try to persuade him.

The hectic political developments come a day after senior leader and Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor met Ms. Gandhi for a meeting. In the 40-minute meeting, sources claimed, Ms. Gandhi assured Mr. Tharoor that the Gandhi family would be ‘neutral’ if there is a contest.

‘Anybody can contest’

On Tuesday, Ms. Gandhi also met party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who flew in from Allapuzha, to discuss organisational matters.

Anybody can contest the Congress president’s poll which will be fair and transparent, Mr. Venugopal told reporters outside 10, Janpath, Ms. Gandhi’s official residence, after the meeting.

However, the Congress general secretary tried to play down the meeting and said it was a “routine” one to discuss pending oragnisational matter with the party chief.

“Polls have been announced, what is the need for a discussion? On September 22 notification will come and nomination will start on September 24,” Mr. Venugopal said, adding, “Whoever wants to file a nomination, can file it. We have said it will be an open election, anybody can contest, free and fair election, definitely it will be a transparent election.”

Asked about Mr. Tharoor contesting, he said, “Not only Shashi Tharoor, anybody who wants to contest, can contest.”

However, two Lok Sabha members from Kerala, Kodikunnil Suresh and K. Muraleedharan, said their vote will go to the person who accepts the prominence of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

“Anyway, we will cast our votes only for those who recognise the prominence of the Nehru family,” Mr. Muraleedharan said.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand and Haryana on Tuesday joined seven other Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) in passing resolutions that asked Mr. Gandhi to take back the reins of the party.

“But nobody asked anyone to pass any resolution. The Congress party workers are enthusiastic. Rahul Gandhi has not asked anyone to pass any resolution. The Congress president has not asked anyone,”said party’s communication head Jairam Ramesh.