The race for the post of the Chief Minister in the state of Rajasthan has already begun. The Congress has secured 99 seats in 200 member Rajasthan state assembly just two short of the majority mark while the BJP won 73 seats. Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot and Rajasthan PCC Chief Sachin Pilot are in the fray for the post of the Chief Minister but the Congress high command is likely to favour Gehlot, as he is believed to more acceptable in the party and most importantly for the independent MLAs.
According to News18, Congress observer KC Venugopal has already arrived in Rajasthan and has met each MLA of the Congress party to ascertain the views of the newly elected members. The party observers have scheduled a Congress legislative party (CLP) meet at 11 am at Jaipur to elect the party’s Chief Minister after garnering the views of the newly elected members.
KC Venugopal has also met both Pilot and Gehlot individually. In a show of solidarity, both leaders had appeared before the media in Jaipur on Tuesday after defeating the BJP in the elections.
The Congress delegation led by KC Venugopal, Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pandey, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot is set to meet the Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh at 7 pm in the evening to claim the right to form the new government in Rajasthan.
Interestingly, Congress party which is just short of 2 seats is relying on regional parties like Bharatiya Tribal Party led by Chhotubhai Vasava and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, who has already promised his support to the Congress party. Out of the 12 independents, 9 of them were originally from Congress party but had rebelled after being denied tickets will play a key role in the government formation. Reportedly, some of those members like Sanyam Lodha, Mahadeo Singh Khandela and Babulal Nagar are close to Ashok Gehlot and may support him to be the next Chief Minister of the Rajasthan.
Ashok Gehlot, who won from the Sardarpura seat is eyeing for his third term as Rajasthan’s Chief Minister. Sachin Pilot has been elected from Tonk constituency and has eyes on the post too.
