Following the principle of forget, forgive and move ahead, Congress removed the last print of the September 25 episode when three senior leaders openly defied high command's direction and drove away legislators from the scheduled Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting where new CLP leader was to be decided to replace chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who was to contest Congress national president election.
The party has revoked the notices served to these three Gehlot confidantes – UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal, PHED minister Mahesh Joshi and RTDC chairman Dharmendra Rathore. A formal announcement is likely to be made soon.
“This has paved the way for giving tickets to these three leaders. With no sword of disciplinary action hanging in them, they are almost certain to contest elections,” said Rakesh Bhargava, a political commentator.
Shanti Dhariwal contests from Kota North, Joshi fights from Hawa Mahal in Jaipur while Dharmendra Rathore, a workers' union leader, is eyeing a ticket from Pushkar.
“Once again it's been proved that Gehlot is the boss. Sachin Pilot has been voicing for taking strict action against these three leaders who have defied the diktat of party high command. But Gehlot had the last laugh, his three loyalists were exempted from any punishment,” said a senior Congress leader.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
