Congress won’t project CM face in Rajasthan polls

New Delhi: The Congress has decided against projecting a chief ministerial face in the upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan. In a meeting of the leaders of Rajasthan Congress with the party president in Delhi, it was decided not to put up one candidate as the face of the party.

Insiders say that the slogan for the party will be “Ek hee agenda hai, Congress ka jhanda hai” (there is only one agenda that is the Congress flag). Party president Rahul Gandhi is expected to campaign extensively in the state.

There are several leaders that the Congress can boast of in the state. They include former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, state unit president Sachin Pilot, party general secretary C.P. Joshi and former Union minister Bhanwar Jitendra Singh. The support in local body elections, by-elections to the Lok Sabha and assembly seats has buoyed up the party’s hopes. Congress won all the four zila parishad, 16 of the 27 panchayat samiti seats and six nagar palika seats. It also won both the Lok Sabha seats of Ajmer, Alwar and one assembly segment in Alwar. Rajasthan is one of the states on which the Congress is banking heavily.

It is scheduled to go to polls along with Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in November. The party feels that anti-incumbency should help it form the government in the state. In May 2017, the state also witnessed farmer unrest like in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress has been holding rallies protesting against the ‘anti-farmer’ policies of the state government. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has also addressed kisan rallies in the state.