No tradition in Congress to offer posts to pacify leaders: CM Ashok Gehlot

Amid infighting in the Rajasthan Congress, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said the party high command is strong and it will never offer any position to any leader or worker to pacify him.

His remarks came ahead of a strategy meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the upcoming polls in the state.

Kharge is scheduled to hold separate meetings with Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot on Monday here to bring them on one platform ahead of the assembly elections, which are due later this year.

The meeting comes close on the heels of Pilot's "ultimatum" that if three demands he made from the state government were not met by the end of this month, he would launch a state-wide agitation. Pilot has asked for a high-level inquiry into the alleged scams that took place during the tenure of the former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje government, as one of his demands.

Speaking to reporters, Gehlot said there is no such tradition in the party to offer posts to any leader in order to pacify him.

"As far as I know, there is no such tradition in the Congress where any leader demands something and the party high command offers to give that position. We have not heard of such a formula ever," he said when asked about reports of a formula being worked out to rope in Pilot.

Rubbishing such reports, he said, it is only the creation of the media and some leaders may be getting such stories planted.

"The Congress party is strong and there is such position that the high command offers to give any post to any leader to pacify any leader," he said.

"Never has such a thing happened in the Congress so far and neither will it happen in the future. The Congress party and the high command is very strong and no leader or worker has the courage to demand any position. It does not happen like that," the chief minister asserted.

Pilot and Gehlot have been engaged in a power tussle since the Congress formed government in the state in 2018. In 2020, Pilot led a failed revolt against the Gehlot government after which he was removed from the posts of party state unit president and deputy chief minister.

The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister had last month defied a warning from the party and went ahead with a day-long fast targeting Gehlot over his "inaction" on alleged corruption during the Raje government.