Differences between Cong, Vaghela deepen after party refuses to name CM face
Miffed leader says: I’m with Cong now, but can’t predict future
Differences between former Gujarat chief minister and Congress leader Shankesrsinh Vaghela and the party high command continues to grow with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi rejecting Mr Vaghela’s demand to project him as the chief ministerial candidate for the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state.
On Wednesday, in a meeting between Mr Gandhi, Mr Vagehla and AICC general secretary and Gujarat in-charge, Mr Ashok Ghelot, the Congress scion made it categorically clear that there would be no CM face for the polls.
Emerging from the meeting, a miffed Mr Vaghela told the media that “at this juncture I’m with the Congress. Congress has given me a lot, but I cannot predict the future.”
Mr Vagehla also indicated that he and the party were pulling in different directions as he said; “There may be difference of opinion while deciding the election strategy.” Giving clear indications that the Congress high command was not willing to concede to Mr Vagehla’s “pressure tactics,” Mr Ghelot said that the “party has done a lot for Mr Vaghela and now it’s upto him to take a call.” Mr Rahul Gandhi, during the meeting, also said that the Congress would go to polls “under collective leadership.”
Mr Vaghela, who was reportedly being wooed by the BJP, had earlier showed his disenchantment with the Congress leadership by unfollowing all his contacts, including Mr Rahul Gandhi, on Twitter. Also, during the first week of May, while the Congress high command was holding a series of crucial meetings to decide its electoral strategy, Mr Vaghela went off on a vacation for a week.
It may be recalled that the the fear of rebellion in the state unit has been preventing the Congress high command from projecting a CM face for the forhcoming Assembly polls in the state. The Gujarat Congress at this juncture is split into four camps which incldue that of Mr Vaghela, state unit chief Bharatsinh Solanki, senior leaders, Arjun Modhvadiya and Shaktisinh Gohil.