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Even dinner diplomacy not working for Rajasthan Congress

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Rohit Parihar
Rohit PariharOct 11, 2016 | 12:15

Even dinner diplomacy not working for Rajasthan Congress

Can dinner diplomacy help change the image of Rajasthan Congress from a divided house to a united one?

Obviously not, if one goes by the first dinner hosted by former chief minister Ashok Gehlot on October 3.

State unit in-charge Gurudas Kamat came up with the idea that prominent leaders such as Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot, Gehlot and some others - seen as rivals - should host dinners for a select few, but including each other.

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The reasoning behind it was Gehlot's refusal to withdraw from the race for state chief minister, a post for which AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi's obvious choice is Pilot. Another contender is CP Joshi, who has been out of Rajasthan for years now but still feels he should be chief minister if the party wins the Assembly election in 2018.

When Gehlot lost the elections in 2003, he opted to stay out of the state and worked with the high command in New Delhi to ensure that none of the leaders who were appointed as PCC president or leader of the CLP were allowed to succeed him. So he has emerged as a crucial option.

It was Joshi who managed to stay on and deliver a series of victories as PCC president.

But this time, Gehlot was neither asked to come to New Delhi nor could he afford to leave the state for fear that he would lose space to Pilot. That is why, he has been travelling a lot across the state in an attempt to retain his hold over the party which he has monopolised for almost two decades.

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Rahul Gandhi's obvious CM choice is Sachin Pilot. (Photo credit: India Today) 

But at Gehlot's dinner, conspicuous by their absence were AICC general secretary Joshi, Mohan Prakash and Chandresh Kumari. Joshi even tweeted about his absence.

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Moreover, many important personalities in the party have been left wondering why were not they invited to the dinner and whether those present at the first dinner had any influence in the state. So the dinner diplomacy failed to send the signals Kamat had hoped for.

Around the dinner, another development took place that has left party workers amused. Gehlot and Digvijaya Singh, AICC general secretary, are very good friends and supporters of each other whenever there is a political crisis within the party.

Yet Singh, in a public statement, said Gehlot should move to the Centre. Gehlot responded by saying that had Singh stayed on in Madhya Pradesh, the party's fortunes would have improved.

Insiders say this was a friendly, pre-planned exchange of words which indicated that the party would suffer in Rajasthan without Gehlot and that Singh should be sent to revive it in Madhya Pradesh.

Gehlot also made his intentions clear when he remained absent from the October 6 rally of Rahul Gandhi in Delhi where Pilot brought a good number of workers from Rajasthan.

Pilot remains undisturbed from whatever Joshi or Gehlot are up to. While his rivals believe it will be a cake-walk for them to win the elections in 2018 as the ruling BJP is fast losing its base, Pilot believes it continues to be a tough match as of now.

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Dinners won't bring votes to Rajasthan, that much is clear.

Last updated: October 11, 2016 | 12:15
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