Ashok Gehlot Loyalists Who Held Parallel Meeting Yet To Be Given Clean Chit: Congress

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on Wednesday said the party has not given a clean chit to the three leaders of its Rajasthan unit who were served notices for holding a parallel CLP meeting on September 25.

The issue is under consideration of the disciplinary committee, Mr Venugopal told reporters at the Jaipur airport before leaving for Sawai Madhopur to join his party's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The Congress had called a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Jaipur on September 25 after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced his decision to contest the party president election.

Amid speculation that Congress leader Sachin Pilot could be named as Mr Gehlot's successor, some MLAs considered loyal to the chief minister held a separate meeting at the residence of state minister Shanti Dhariwal and handed over their resignations to the Speaker.

The party had issued show cause notices to Mr Dhariwal and MLAs Dharmendra Rathore and Mahesh Joshi, who is the chief whip of the party in the state assembly.

Asked about a local media report claiming the Congress had given a clean chit to the three rebel leaders, Mr Venugopal said, "The matter is under consideration of the disciplinary committee. No clean chit has been given." The three leaders have already submitted their replies to the show cause notices.

Last month, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken sent a letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, expressing his unwillingness to continue as the in-charge of Rajasthan, where the two leaders had gone as central observers for holding the CLP meeting.

However, Mr Maken was asked to continue in the post, party sources had said.

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