Ajay Maken quits as AICC's Rajasthan in-charge
Upset over inaction against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's loyalists for rebelling ahead of the Congress's presidential elections, Ajay Maken has resigned as the All India Congress Committee's (AICC) Rajasthan in-charge. Maken wrote a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on November 8 saying he has no "moral authority" to continue on the post since there was no resolution to the issue.
Why does this story matter?
- Rajasthan's Congress unit witnessed a political crisis when Gehlot's loyalists tried to arm-twist the party's leadership to let Gehlot bid his nomination for Congress's presidential election while simultaneously being the CM — against the party's one person, one post policy.
- The rebels held a parallel meeting, in defiance of the high command's Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, and threatened to topple the government.
Bharat Jodo Yatra to enter Rajasthan in December first week
The development comes as the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to enter Rajasthan in around a fortnight. Earlier, the grand old party's disciplinary committee issued show-cause notices to the rebel leaders for bringing about the political crisis, but reportedly it wasn't followed up. Instead, the rebel leaders were handed responsibilities for coordinating the yatra in the state, Maken reportedly wrote to Kharge.
Maken quit after waiting for a week
The three rebel leaders who were served the show-cause notices are the Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal, party's chief whip Mahesh Joshi, and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) chairman Dharmendra Rathore. Though Kharge refused to accept Maken's resignation and told him to continue, the latter resigned after waiting for a week. Both Kharge and Maken were tasked with holding the CLP meeting.
New in-charge imperative for yatra, by-poll: Maken
Maken didn't attend the meeting called earlier this week of the task force set up for the coordination of the yatra, which is set to enter Madhya Pradesh from Maharashtra next week. Maken told Kharge it was imperative to appoint a new in-charge for Rajasthan in view of the yatra and the bye-elections for the Sardarshahar Assembly constituency in Churu district.
