Mallikarjun Kharge's first difficult task as Congress president: To take a call on Gehlot's future

New Delhi: The first difficult task for new Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after taking over the charge on October 26 will be to decide the fate of Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot.

Interestingly, Kharge was the observer for the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Jaipur on September 25 to elect Gehlot’s successor.

Gehlot was then supposed to file his nomination papers for the Congress president’s elections. A reluctant Gehlot, considered a staunch Gandhi family loyalist, had been prevailed upon by Sonia Gandhi to enter the fray.

But the legislators loyal to Gehlot boycotted the CLP meeting and held parallel deliberations to stall the purported installation of his bete noire Sachin Pilot as the next chief minister.

They denounced any move to replace Gehlot with Pilot who had nearly brought down the Congress government in Rajasthan in July 2020 and the two have since been engaged in a bitter slugfest.

Dubbed as gross indiscipline, the action of legislators had so incensed the Congress high command that Gehlot called on Sonia Gandhi to personally apologise for their defiance. He took moral responsibility for their actions and opted out of the contest.

Needless to say, he got to stay on as the chief minister. The wily magician had outwitted all. The Congress leadership then fell back upon dependable Kharge who will now have to tread a difficult path to resolve the Rajasthan imbroglio.

But the question is whether he will allow Gehlot to continue till the assembly elections next year or immediately name his successor to beat the massive anti-incumbency against the Congress government in Rajasthan.

But appointing Pilot, who is seen as a popular leader, will prove counterproductive and even might lead to the fall of the government or a split in the party.

Besides, Kharge has nothing substantial to offer Gehlot to give up his chair.

It remains to be seen if he opts for a middle ground by allowing Gehlot to be the chief minister while naming Pilot as the new Rajasthan Congress president.