Rajasthan CM Gehlot, former deputy Pilot appointed AICC members

Jaipur, Feb 19 (PTI) Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot were among 55 leaders from Rajasthan appointed to the All India Congress Committee on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Congress’ Rajasthan unit said the new appointees include Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra, former Union minister Jitendra Singh and Gujarat Congress Committee In-charge Raghu Sharma.

Mohan Prakash, Pawan Kheda, Neeraj Dangi, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, ministers BD Kalla, Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Sukhram Vishnoi and 20 others have also been included.

The names of three Congress leaders issued notices by the party’s disciplinary committee — Urban Development Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Water Supply Minister Mahesh Joshi and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Chairman Dharmendra Rathore — were missing from the list.

On September 25, MLAs of the Gehlot camp did not attend a Congress Legislature Party meeting, called by Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken, at his residence. Instead, they held a parallel meeting at the residence of Dhariwal.

Following the meeting, the MLAs went to Assembly Speaker Joshi’s residence to protest against any move to appoint Pilot as chief minister in place of Gehlot, who was at the time in the running for the post of Congress president.

They had also handed over their resignations to Joshi.

Considering this “indiscipline”, the party issued showcause notices to Mahesh Joshi, the Congress’ chief whip in the assembly, Dhariwal and Rathore.