NewsDrum Informals: Ajay Maken – Nobody's friend

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Ajay Maken: Nobody's friend

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken does not want to contest the upcoming assembly elections in Delhi. Many of his party colleagues are criticising him for running away from the electoral battle fearing comprehensive defeat. Some of them pointed out that Maken has lost all elections since 2009 - be it assembly, Lok Sabha and even Rajya Sabha. 

It was only in February this year that Maken managed to get elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka - thanks to chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar. 

These leaders cited the example of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when Maken literally forced the Congress leadership to field former chief minister Sheila Dikshit from North East Delhi despite her frail health. She lost to BJP's Manoj Tiwari. About a month later in July, 81-year-old Dikshit passed away due to multiple ailments. 

Maken is also known for not fighting for his close ones. He failed to get a Congress ticket for many of his well-wishers in different states. Take, for example, Mehmood Zia in Delhi. In the second list of candidates released by the Congress for the Delhi polls on December 24, the party ignored loyalist Zia and instead fielded Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) turncoat Asim Ahmed Khan from Matia Mahal.

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KC Venugopal: If wishes were horses...

There were intense rumours last week that former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot will replace Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal. Such rumours keep surfacing every now and then. 

The name of Gehlot was mentioned as he had held the post in the past. But the problem now is that the Gandhi family doesn't trust him any longer. They distanced from him after he refused to fight the party president's election in 2022 and instead created circumstances where if he was forced to fight the polls, the Congress government would have fallen given his deep dislike for Sachin Pilot. 

In fact, Gehlot managed to save his chair only by his political machination. He had then skillfully directed his loyalists to hold a separate legislature party leader meeting from the one called by the central leadership. 

Incidentally, the two central observers deputed to oversee the change of guard from Gehlot to Pilot were current Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken. 

After Gehlot declined their offer, the Gandhi family's next choice was Kharge who happily accepted it. 

Asked about the rumours, a Congress leader said that everyone in the party wishes that Venugopal be replaced but nobody can touch him till he is protected by his political master Rahul Gandhi. 

"Jab tak Rahul Gandhi nahi chahenge, koi bhi Venugopal ka baal bhi banka nahi kar payega," quipped the Congress leader.