Ajay Maken quits as AICC’s Rajasthan In-Charge

According to sources talking to NDTV, Congress leader Ajay Maken resigned from his position as the party’s Rajasthan in-charge because he was dissatisfied with the turn of events in late September when Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot abruptly refused to resign so that he could run for Congress president.

In protest of the Congress leadership’s attempt to force Gehlot to leave as Chief Minister, over 90 MLAs who supported  Gehlot chose to submit their resignations to the Speaker rather than attend a crucial party conference where Gehlot’s replacement was to be chosen.

Maken anticipated the party to take action against the MLAs, but since this did not occur, he decided to resign as the Congress’s in-charge of Rajasthan.

Mahesh Joshi, Dharmendra Rathore, and Shanti Dhariwal, who organised a parallel gathering of MLAs to draught a resolution declaring they will only support Gehlot as the Chief Minister, were the three MLAs directly targeted by Maken during the September crisis.

No follow-up on show-cause notices issued to MLAs loyal to Gehlot and the absence of a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, according to sources, are further issues that have disturbed Maken.

According to reports, Mr. Maken stated that Rajasthan needs a new governor after everything that had occurred while he was in charge. Mr. Maken was also criticised by the MLAs who supported Mr. Gehlot for trying to convince Mr. Gehlot to run for Congress president in order to give Sachin Pilot the top job.

Additionally, he skipped a meeting to discuss the Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress.

Maken’s resignation also comes just within two weeks after Sachin Pilot urged for an end to the air of political turmoil in Rajasthan, seeking action against MLAs close to Gehlot. “It’s time now to end the climate of indecision in Rajasthan,” Mr Pilot said on November 2.