Rajya Sabha elections: ‘Dissident faction’ emerges in Congress

MLAs refuse to join camp in Udaipur, question Ashok Gehlot government

The Congress in Rajasthan faced trouble on Saturday with the emergence of a “dissident faction”, which has questioned the Ashok Gehlot government and refused to join the MLAs sequestered at a resort near Udaipur ahead of the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections.

A total of 95 MLAs, including 11 Independents, have so far reached the Udaipur camp, arranged for protecting them from horse-trading.

Five of the MLAs, including a Minister, who won as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidates but later merged with the Congress, and two Congress legislators have not joined the party camp in Udaipur, accusing the leadership of ignoring them and failing to control the bureaucrats unwilling to cooperate with them. The MLAs hinted that there could be many more who were not happy on various issues.

Minister of State for Sainik Kalyan Rajendra Singh Gudha said the MLAs who had merged with the ruling Congress in 2019 were not given the respect which they deserved. The display of dissent was perceived in the political circles here as a pressure tactic which may force the Congress government to accede to some of the demands of these legislators.

Congress MLAs Girraj Singh Malinga and Khiladi Lal Bairwa, both from Dholpur district, have also not joined the Udaipur camp.

Chief Minister Mr. Gehlot has reportedly given the responsibility to Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh to meet the dissident legislators and convince them to support the Congress candidates in the polling.

Congress candidates Mukul Wasnik and Randeep Surjewala are set to win from the State with the ruling party having a sufficient number of first-preference votes, but the third candidate, Pramod Tiwari, faces contest from Independent candidate Subhash Chandra, backed by the BJP.