Maken is R’sthan gen secy incharge
NEWDELHI/JAIPUR:CONGRESS president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday named former Union minister Ajay Maken as the party’s general secretary incharge of Rajasthan in place of Avinash Pande, who was appointed to the post over three years ago.
Gandhi also named Maken, Ahmed Patel (Rajya Sabha member) and KC Venugopal as the three members of a panel the party has formed to look into issues raised by former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 Congress lawmakers, whose rebellion against chief minister Ashok Gehlot threatened the state government.
The development came two days after the Congress government won a floor test in the House, bolstered by the return of
Pilot and his supporters to the party fold.
In a statement, Venugopal, the Congress general secretary in charge of the organisation, said Gandhi constituted the threemember panel to oversee and ensure the smooth resolution of recent issues in the state.
On August 10, Pilot met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi
and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi in the midst of a crisis triggered by his rebellion.
Their interaction appeared to have found a breakthrough. Later that night, the party announced the setting up of the panel to look into issues raised by the 42-year-old Pilot and the 18 rebel MLAS, who protested Gehlot’s style of functioning and alleged that Pilot was sidelined in the state government.
Before that, on July 14, Pilot was sacked from the posts of the deputy CM and state Congress president. Gehlot and Pilot have had differences since the formation of the Congress government in December 2018.
Reacting to Sunday’s developments, Pilot said: “I am thankful to the Congress president and Rahul Gandhi for forming the committee, which will look into the issues we have raised.”
Following the August 10 meeting, Pilot announced a truce and returned to Jaipur. Gehlot, too, sent out a message to his loyalists that the two groups should work together to strengthen the party. They met at a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting a day ahead of the floor test, shook hands and flashed victory signs.