AS RAJASTHAN Congress MLAs begin withdrawing the resignations they submitted to Assembly Speaker C P Joshi in September last year, the government’s Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi summed up its probable effect on the party unit in Rajasthan. Talking to journalists, he said the withdrawal will lead to “sohard ka mahaul, khushnuma mahaul (cordial and happy environment)”. On September 25, in protest against the Congress high command’s “unilateral” decision to replace Ashok Gehlot with a new chief minister – believed to be Tonk MLA Sachin Pilot – without consulting them, nearly 90 MLAs had skipped a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting and submitted their resignations. Following discussions last month led by the new Congress state in-charge, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the party had asked the MLAs to withdraw their resignations. And the legislators appear to have finally decided to comply. The immediate impact would be helping maintain the truce brokered by the party high command in November, ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra’s Rajasthan leg. For the Gehlot camp, the resignations were a fail-safe in case the high command attempted to unseat him once again. Since then, it continues to be amply clear that Gehlot, who chose to stay on as CM over being the party's official candidate for Congress presidentship, has the support of most of the Congress MLAs, and that he will indeed present the Budget later this month. The withdrawal of resignations, apart from legal exigencies, implies that Gehlot is firmly in charge and doesn’t need a fail-safe anymore, having successfully resisted the high command. With elections scheduled for later this year, the Congress is unlikely to disturb the status quo, especially with Pilot seemingly out of tricks. Gehlot supporters are further digging their heels in. Dhariyawad MLA Nagraj Meena said: “We don’t have to finish the Congress by changing the CM. We have to strengthen Congress.” He said that he had submitted and withdrawn his resignation “voluntarily”, adding that “since elections are round the corner, there won’t be any change in the party structure.” Barmer MLA Mewaram Jain also asserted that he had taken the decisions voluntarily, and that “everything is fine and normal”. Sikar MLA Rajendra Pareek, also the Chairperson of the Assembly, said that he “withdrew the resignation to fulfil the expectations of his constituents”. “It is my wish to resign or not. Now I felt I should withdraw it, and so I am withdrawing,” he added. Heaping praises on Gehlot, Khetri MLA Dr Jitendra Singh said it is ultimately the high command that has to decide, but that he has not seen “such developments in 35 years as in these last four years by Gehlot”. While there was little doubt that the resignations would not be accepted, the withdrawal will end the uncertainty and apprehension among the Congress MLAs, especially in light of the High Court hearing the matter. On Monday, the court asked Speaker Joshi to clarify the facts on MLA resignations and take a decision on the same. BJP Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore had moved the court over the issue.
