Relieved, Congress leaders credit Rahul
nNEW DELH Congress leaders on Tuesday rushed to give credit to Rahul Gandhi for ending the rebellion in the party in Rajasthan that threatened the survival of its government, and urged him to once again assume the reins of the organisation.
The renewed bid to persuade Rahul Gandhi to accept the responsibility came a day after Sonia Gandhi completed one year as an interim Congress president on Monday.
“The entire country witnessed as to how after 30 days now the
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political events in Rajasthan have come to a close. This was made possible on account of the vision and the belief of Rahul Gandhi in carrying all Congress leaders together,” the party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, addressing a virtual news conference.
“It was due to his farsightedness and nature of carrying along everybody that we were able to resolve the differences. He was also helped by the cooperation and assistance given by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra,” he said and went on to praise both Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.
The crisis ended soon after Pilot met Rahul Gandhi on Monday afternoon. As a way out and to assuage the sentiments of all sides, the party then decided to form a three-member committee to address the grievances of the rebel legislators, including Pilot.
In the evening, Pilot and 17 MLAS backing him met Ahmed Patel, Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal to seek an assurance that the issues raised by them would be resolved amicably.
Asked if Rahul Gandhi will take up the Congress president’s post now, Surjewala said not 99% but 100% of Congress leaders and workers want him to assume the responsibility once again.
Referring to claims that Rahul Gandhi has refused to return as the party chief, Surjewala said, “I don’t think that anyone of us has recently spoken to him on the issue.” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi also lauded Gandhi and his team for ending the stalemate in Rajasthan.
“Today because of the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and the efforts of Priyanka Gandhi we have managed to keep one of our own, Sachin Pilot with us. This is the democratic spirit of our party where there is room for dissent and debate,” tweeted former union minister Jitin Prasada.
The minute we came to Delhi to air our views, the next day itself a lot of acrimonious action started in Jaipur -- FIRS, police cases. A lot of our colleagues felt there would be coercive action by the police and administration. I want to place on record that we were here in Delhi, wanting to place our views and wanting to be heard. I think the reactions that came out from Jaipur and the actions that followed, it didn’t give any confidence to the legislators that we are moving in the right direction. As far as the opposition party (Bharatiya Janata Party) is concerned,
First of all, all of us were here in Delhi and were never incommunicado; we were talking to people, we were moving around. I met a lot of colleagues, and it was not as if anyone was bound anywhere. But yes, some of my colleagues felt apprehensive of the police. The kind of things that were said while we were here making our grievances heard, it wasn’t charitable.
No, no, not for a moment. But I have to admit when I heard some of the language used
Priyanka did come last night when the MLAS were there, and had a detailed discussion with every single one of them. We appreciated her taking time out and, as a general secretary of the party, she’s played a role. I met Rahulji and Priyanka Gandhi yesterday at Mr Gandhi’s house and, as then party president, it was Rahul Gandhi who said to me that I should work as deputy CM. He chose Mr Gehlot as chief minister and he did lean on me to become deputy and continue as state unit president. But in the last 18 months, what has transpired... I had to share because it was important for the party to know.
If you are taking a position just to have a house and a car, I don’t think it’s worth anyone’s time. As a political person, you are there to do a job, to do governance, to deliver development; and if you don’t have the space and the resources and the authority to do that, then mere positions don’t matter. I have said that whatever the party wants me to do, I am happy to do it, I have done it for more than 20 years and leadership can decide what my role can or cannot be.
I have nothing but kind words and warmth to offer him at a personal level. Professionally, our objectives should remain the same - to deliver to the expectations of the people of Rajasthan. I have no animosity, no ill will, no negative sentiment towards him.