Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot backs Rahul Gandhi for Congress president

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the Gandhi family is important for the Congress' unity and Rahul Gandhi should become the party president.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said that the Gandhi family is important for the Congress' unity and Rahul Gandhi should become the party president.

Speaking to ANI, Gehlot said, "Rahul Gandhi should become the party president. For the last three decades, nobody from the Gandhi family became the Prime Minister or a minister. It is significant to understand that the Gandhi family is important for Congress' unity."

Gehlot said Congress lost Punjab Assembly polls due to internal conflict

"In 2017, Congress was united and we won. After Channi became the chief minister the environment was conducive too but it was our mistake that due to internal conflict we lost Assembly elections in Punjab," said the Congress leader.

Slamming the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the Rajasthan Chief Minister alleged that the ruling party at the Centre pushed the real issues on backseat bringing religion to the forefront.

"Politics of polarisation is easier. BJP propagated Congress as a Muslim party on social media. Our way is to maintain the integrity and unity of the country. During polls, religion comes to the forefront while issues of inflation and jobs take a backseat for BJP," Gehlot added.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) is underway to discuss the party's crushing defeat in Assembly elections in five states.

Ahead of the meeting, the dissident group within the party, G23, had suggested Mukul Wasnik for the post of president of the party, which was not accepted, sources said.

Sources said, "G23, which includes Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, had suggested Mukul Wasnik's name for the post of president of the party. But it was not accepted."

The source, who is a part of G23, also said that the new party president should lead the party in the manner as was done by Sonia Gandhi in the year 2000.

"Though Sonia Gandhi is the (interim) president, it is virtually (being) run by KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Randeep Surjewala. There is no accountability fixed on them. Rahul Gandhi is not the president. But he operates from behind the scene and takes decisions. He does not communicate openly. We are party's well-wishers and not enemies," added the source.

The results of five assembly polls came as a shock to the Congress which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country.