The Rajasthan Congress Saturday unanimously passed an informal resolution for the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as party chief, with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot — who was seen as a potential candidate for the post — initiating the motion at a meeting in Jaipur. “. (A) resolution was passed after the Chief Minister said that Rahul Gandhi ji should be made the national president and everyone supported it,” Rajasthan Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said. This is the first state unit of the Congress to pass a resolution of this manner in favour of Rahul. The show of support won’t have any direct bearing on the party president election, which is scheduled for next month. At the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) meeting on Saturday, the 400 delegates passed another unanimous resolution — an official one — empowering the incoming Congress national president to appoint state chiefs and nominate All India Congress Committee delegates, Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said. This resolution was passed to meet the requirement of the Congress constitution to complete the process of election of PCC presidents and AICC delegates before the election to the top post. Chaturvedi added: “After the resolution was passed and the Pradesh returning officer had left, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that it is his desire that Rahul Gandhi becomes the Congress president and asked the delegates what they want. After this, everyone supported Gehlot with a show of hands.” Ever since the announcement of the election dates, there has been speculation that Gehlot, who has extensive experience working in the organisation, may be elevated to the post of Congress president. Over the past month, the supporters of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot — whose tussle with Gehlot had resulted in the 2020 political crisis in Rajasthan — have openly called for Pilot to be made chief minister. Gehlot is said to be reluctant to contest for the party chief’s post as he may have to quit as CM in the event of a victory. Madhusudan Misty, the Chairman of the Central Election Authority, had said earlier that resolutions passed by the PCCs authorising the incoming AICC president to appoint the party’s state unit chiefs and nominate All India Congress Committee delegates would have no bearing on the Congress president elections, for which the nomination window will begin on September 24. Similarly, Mistry had clarified that resolutions which may be passed by PCCs supporting any particular leader as Congress chief would be informal in nature. with inputs from Manoj CG
