Rajasthan Congress crisis: Why Ashok Gehlot loyalists rebelled and what happens next

Ashok Gehlot, who was a front-runner to become the next Congress President, is now out of the race after a rebellion by party MLAs in Rajasthan, reported India Today.

He will continue as the Rajasthan Chief Minister for now and Sonia Gandhi has sought a written report on it from party observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken.

What happened: As Gehlot was all set to run for the Congress President post, the Congress Legislature Party was to meet in the presence of two central observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge. They were to announce that Gehlot will run for Congress president and someone will take over Rajasthan CM in his place.

• But the reports that Gehlot's rival Sachin Pilot could be the new CM led to an open rebellion by Gehlot loyalists in the state. As many as 82 Congress MLAs submitted their resignation ahead of the party meeting.

• The MLAs didn't want Pilot to become the CM as he had rebelled against Gehlot in 2020 and were expecting someone from the Gehlot camp to be named the CM.

Sonia Gandhi upset: Sonia Gandhi is reportedly "upset" over the Rajasthan rebellion as Gehlot was being considered as her successor for the top post and is one of the most senior leaders of the party. She has sought a written report on it from Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken

Gehlot denies involvement in rebellion: PTI reported that Gehlot has told the two observers that he is not behind the Jaipur development and the MLAs involved in it were not listening to him.

Congress's position in Rajasthan: The Congress has 108 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly.

What's next? Gehlot may officially withdraw from the Congress' presidential race and stay on as the CM or he may still contest the party chief election if someone from his faction is named the CM.

• If Gehlot does not contest for the top party role, Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh, KC Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik etc might decide to fight the election. Kamal Nath has already said that he won't run for the Congress President post.
• After 20 years, the Congress is set to see a contest for the post of party chief and as of now Shashi Tharoor is the only candidate whose named has been confirmed for the poll.