Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria Resigns After Congress' Rout in Lok Sabha Elections 2019
In a purported press release, Kataria said he resigned from the Ashok Gehlot cabinet in the wake of the Congress party's poor performance in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.
Jaipur, May 28: Senior Congress leader and Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria has reportedly resigned from Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's Cabinet. His purported exit comes in the backdrop of rumblings within the party's state unit following the humiliation suffered in Lok Sabha elections 2019.
In a purported press release, Kataria said he resigned from the Ashok Gehlot cabinet in the wake of the Congress party's poor performance in the state in the Lok Sabha elections. Congress in MP, Rajasthan See Cracks Post Lok Sabha Polls Debacle, Fingers Raised at Kamal Nath And Ashok Gehlot
The Congress lost all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the general elections. The BJP won 24 and its ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party one seat in the Congress-ruled state.
Kataria said he was forwarding his resignation to Governor Kalyan Singh through the CM. When contacted, the Chief Minister's Office told PTI, "We refuse to confirm the resignation."
Sources at the Raj Bhawan also did not confirm the resignation. "There is no confirmation on this," said an official.
Rumblings of Discontent Against Rajasthan Government
According to some of the leaders, who attended Saturday's Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Gandhi did a lot of "plain-speaking" in his surgical analysis of the role of several party leaders while himself offering to quit as the party president.
Ticking-off Gehlot for camping in Jodhpur for his son Vaibhav's election, Gandhi said the chief minister spent days campaigning extensively for his son in Jodhpur and neglected the rest of the state.
Gehlot had reportedly taken part in over 130 rallies and road shows, 93 of them in Jodhpur alone. His son, however, lost to the BJP, which took 24 of the 25 seats in the state, with one seat going to its ally.
Asked about Gandhi's remarks at the CWC meet against him, Gehlot told PTI that they were "quoted out of context", but maintained that the Congress president "has all the right to make any remark he deemed fit, in party interest".
However, he did not give a direct answer when asked whether he would resign in the wake of the party's defeat in Rajasthan, barely five months after winning the assembly polls.
"Congress president has all the right on whatever changes he wants to initiate in the organisation or the governments, the working committee has left it to him," Gehlot said.
"For any leader in the country, priority should not be any position and the only priority should be how to revive and strengthen the Congress party and and how they can contribute," he said.
He said whatever the high command decides should be binding on all and "position should not be a priority for any leader".
After Gandhi's severe criticism, several ministers in the state have come out in the open, demanding fixing of accountability and action over the electoral drubbing just months after the party formed the government in the state.
Rajasthan Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said the CWC has given Gandhi full authority to fix the accountability and he will exercise that power.
Asked about Gandhi hauling up senior leaders for putting their sons over party, he said: "Rahul Gandhi ji has full right to say what he has to in the CWC. Nobody is above him and he would have said it after giving it full thought. All workers and leaders of the Congress respect his word. I also learnt from the media about it (Rahul's remarks)."
"If Rahul Gandhi ji finds fault with senior leaders, it is his right -- to fix accountability and take corrective steps," Khachariyawas said.
Echoing Khachariyawas' views, his cabinet colleague, Bhanwarlal Meghwal, also demanded that accountability be immediately fixed for the defeat.
"Whatever Rahul Gandhi said is right...Action should be taken against those people who are responsible for this defeat so that a message goes to the workers. The Congress workers are also very angry," he said.
Meanwhile, Gehlot is in Delhi and met Congress general secretary in-charge K C Venugopal on Monday. However, what transpired in the meeting was not known.
Two state ministers have also come out in the open to demand a detailed assessment by the top leadership. Cooperative Minister Udai Lal Anjana, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Meena have said the party should review the reasons for the defeat so that the party bounces back and performs well in upcoming local body elections in the state.
Several MLAs, speaking on condition of anonymity, said priority should be given to fixing accountability. K C Vishnoi, DCC president Hanumangarh, lashed out at Gehlot for the poll debacle.
"The organisation worked really hard and brought the party to power. But within three months the people got upset with the government, the chief minister should take responsibility. He should have offered to resign," he said.
The rumblings in the party cadres comes after Gandhi, who left the CWC meeting abruptly and was adamant on not continuing as the Congress president, ticked off several senior leaders.
(With PTI inputs)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2019 10:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).