Diwali, the ‘festival of lights, festivities and fun’ for others is not a gala affair for Rajasthan Congress anymore, as state ministers fall flat on the face while attempting to play big!
This Diwali, all’s not well in Congress Paradise. Former CM and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot, scorched by VasundharaRaje-led BJP’s massive wins scheduled a grand dinner affair to resolve in-house disputes before the upcoming Rajasthan state assembly elections 2018. Seems like the dinner diplomacy fall flat in the face of Congress leaders, who still cannot settle disputes within the party. The deadly outcomes of the fancy dinner date further discourage state party head GurudasKamat from arranging yet another Diwali bash, this year. In short, Congress leaders celebrated somewhat ‘soundless, eco-friendly’ Deepawali this year, waiting for bigger bombs (‘Pilot’ and ‘Gehlot’) to blast.
Gehlot’s Escalating Popularity With Party High Command is a Threat to Junior Leaders
Gehlot, who is credited with the responsibility of ticket distribution for the upcoming 2017 Punjab assembly polls is a Gandhi family loyalists. Chances are he’ll be highlighted as a CM candidate by senior Congress leaders for the upcoming 2017 Rajasthan elections, making it a Hettrick for Gehlot this time. If not, then he’ll oversee ticket distribution in Rajasthan, which is not a happy news for other CM aspirants like Pilot and Joshi, who need to turn to fellow leaders for support.
Pilot Emerging as a Rising Star in Rajasthan is Not a Happy News for Senior Party Leaders
Pilot, who’s not as popular as other senior leaders has strengthened his position within the party. By luring in two runaway Jat leaders Subhash Maharia and ex-MP Hari Singh (who’re not in good terms with Gehlot anyways), Pilot may have solidified his hold over caste-based votes, but he surely didn’t land in the good books of senior party leaders, especially Gehlot, who were unable to settle scores with ‘rolling Baigans’ of Congress. Absence of prominent faces from commemoration ceremony held at New Delhi speaks volumes of in-house conflicts between the senior/junior wing.
Dinner Diplomacy Vs. Congress Executive Meeting
While Gehlot used ‘Dinner Diplomacy’ as a powerful tool to establish his presence among party leaders, Pilot hit back with the Executive’s meeting. It’s not surprising that both the leaders decided to shun each other’s meeting under the pretence of other ‘important engagements’.
Seeing how things are progressing in last few months, it’s good that the Congress high command decided to celebrate a noise-free Deepawali!
