Congress Prez poll: Gehlot calls MLAs for unscheduled meeting before trip to Delhi

Jaipur, Sep 20 (IANS) Finally, it's official that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will visit Delhi on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

He will leave Jaipur via a special plane at 10 a.m. and will reach Delhi at 11 a.m. on the same day. In fact, Gehlot has called a late night meeting of party MLAs, which is being described as a move proving that he is under pressure from the top leadership to contest elections for party Chief.

However, Gehlot reportedly remains reluctant as he may have to cede the post of chief minister to his political rival Sachin Pilot.

Sources said that Gehlot shall meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi during this visit.

Those close to him are anticipating his visit in the wake of filing nominations for Congress Presidential post which will start from September 24.

Sources said that the Rajasthan CM will meet the party chairperson during his visit to the national capital and he is likely to file his nomination for the position of Congress Chief soon. Although there is no official communication about this, Gehlot has remained tight-lipped whenever he has been questioned on the same by the media.

The process for electing President in the Congress party is scheduled in October, and the nomination process for the same will start on September 24.

Meanwhile, sources confirmed that the Gandhi family wants Gehlot to take the responsibility of the party President, as Rahul Gandhi has been denying showing interest in the top post.

Party workers said that Gehlot has done his homework well in wake of his Delhi visit to file his nomination papers. He has made back to back visits to different constituencies and met MLAs to ensure he enjoys a strong support if there comes any need to show the strength in wake of change of leadership.

In fact, his invitation to MLAs for meeting on Tuesday night is an extension of the same exercise.

Looking at his hectic visits, speculations are rife that there may be a leadership change. Party workers said that Gehlot, in such a case, is willing to depute his own man to take the coveted seat.

Meanwhile, another leader confirmed that Gehlot seems to be in no mood to take the new position, however if Gandhis have decided the same, then there is no escape.

Quoting an earlier incident, they said, "Arjun Singh, former CM of MP was instantly shifted as Governor to Punjab in 1985 despite being elected as CM and Motilal Vora was designated as MP CM."

Meanwhile, senior workers also said that there are chances the elections will be postponed.

"Assembly elections are scheduled in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh soon where AAP and BJP are posing challenges. Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has joined BJP and he might influence his community in Himachal Pradesh. In such conditions, our stability is a must and hence after nominations, there are chances that elections will be postponed," they said.

"However again, if Gandhis have decided to elect non-Gandhi president, then no one will have a word to say," they added.