A meeting to pass a "one-line resolution" spiraled into a level-five crisis for the Congress within hours on Sunday evening. All it reportedly took was a phone call informing Congress MLAs about a "change of venue".
The Congress Legislature Party was to meet in the presence of two central observers (Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge), for the announcement that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will run for Congress president and someone will take over in his place. Reports that Mr Gehlot's rival Sachin Pilot, who revolted against him in 2020, could be the new Chief Minister set off an entirely different set of evens.
The meeting was scheduled at 7 pm on at the Chief Minister's house.
Here is what really went down on Sunday:
- Around 11.30 am, Mr Gehlot and his close aides Govind Singh Dotasara and Pratap Singh Khachariyavas visit a temple near the India-Pak border. He would later claim he had no idea of the crisis as he was out of cellphone range for a part of the day.
- By afternoon, Congress Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi, Mahendra Chaudhary and state minister Shanti Dhariwal start calling MLAs, telling them that the venue had changed and that they were to gather to Mr Dhariwal's house at 5 pm instead of the Chief Minister's at 7 pm. The MLAs start arriving around 4 pm.
- 5 pm - A man putting up a tent at Mr Dhariwal's home tells NDTV he had been hired a day earlier to set up for a "big party".
- 6 pm - MLAs at Shanti Dhariwal's home pass a resolution saying the leader replacing Ashok Gehlot cannot be one of those who backed Sachin Pilot's 2020 rebellion.
- By 7.30 pm, as the Congress' central leaders wait at Mr Gehlot's residence, at least 56 party MLAs are at Shanti Dhariwal's home.
- 9 pm - Senior Congress leader Pratap Singh Khachariyavas emerges from Mr Dhariwal's home and tells reporters that MLAs strongly back Ashok Gehlot.
- A 60-seater bus parked in an adjacent lane appears in front of Mr Dhariwal's home. The bus was booked in advance, a clear sign that someone knew a large number of MLAs would need to be moved.
- 9 pm - Sachin Pilot drives into Ashok Gehlot's residence.
- 9.30 pm - 92 MLAs get on the bus, leave for Speaker's home to resign.
- 10 pm - Senior leader KC Venugopal reportedly speaks to central observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken and instructs them to reach out to the dissenting MLAs through one-on-one meetings.
- Midnight - Congress MLAs leave the Speaker's residence. They don't resign but the crisis remains.
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