Ajay Maken, the general secretary of the Congress, has resigned from his position as the party’s in-charge for Rajasthan and wrote to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to express his “inability and unwillingness to continue” in that capacity.
Maken, according to reports, is furious that Ashok Gehlot’s supporters, who were handed show-cause notices for holding a separate Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Jaipur on September 25, have not been punished.
On November 8, Maken sent a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge expressing his displeasure to continue his job. Ajay Maken referred to the September 25 clash in which MLAs loyal to CM Gehlot refused to attend a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to choose a new chief ministerial candidate.
Maken is reported to have informed Kharge that he does not have the “moral authority” to remain as AICC general secretary in charge of the state if the issue of MLAs boycotting the CLP meeting is not resolved. “I don’t have any moral authority left. With what authority I will interact with the MLAs or discharge my duties as in-charge. There was grave indiscipline but there was no action. Not even an apology,” Maken reportedly wrote in the letter.
Gehlot was a candidate for the party’s presidential elections at the time, and his resignation as CM was widely expected. Maken and Kharge were designated as observers for the CLP meeting, at which MLAs were supposed to authorise the top brass to select a new CM face, with Pilot being seen as the frontrunner.
Kharge, on the other hand, demanded that he stay instead of accepting his resignation. Maken is reported to have resigned after a week of uncertainty. Mahesh Joshi, Dharmendra Rathore, and Shanti Dhariwal organised a parallel conference of MLAs to adopt a resolution proclaiming that only Ashok Gehlot would be recognised as Chief Minister. During the September crisis, Maken specifically sought action against these three MLAs.
In his letter dated November 8, Maken emphasised the need for a new leader to take over as soon as possible since the Bharat Jodo Yatra will arrive in Rajasthan during the first week of December.
The first institutional obstacle for the current Congress president is Maken’s decision to resign despite Kharge’s urging to do so. He identified himself as a Rahul Gandhi supporter and promised to aid the Congress party in Delhi.
“Wedded to the ideology of Congress for the last three generations and being in active Congress politics for over 40 years, I will always remain an ardent follower of Rahul Ji, whom I trust and have faith in beyond words,” Maken concluded in his letter.