Ashok Gehlot To Replace Rahul Gandhi As Congress President? 

New Delhi: With Rahul Gandhi remaining firm on his decision to quit as the Congress president, despite senior leaders including Sonia Gandhi and P Chidambaram suggesting him to drop the idea, the party is in huddle as whom to project as the next party chief.

In wake of this, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's name is doing rounds in the Congress circles that he might replace Rahul Gandhi as its president. The party is of the view that Gehlot's vast experience in politics and his long association with the party would help the party rebound. By entrusting Congress party with a non-Gandhi as its chief, the Congress top leadership feels it would be able to do away with Opposition’s criticism that the party has nothing but a family rule to offer. His recent meeting with Rahul Gandhi on June 19, the latter's birthday, also indicate that Gehlot's elevation as Congress chief is now confirmed.

Sixty eight year old Gehlot is a known for his loyalty to Gandhi family. After his first two terms, Gehlot is now serving as a chief minister for the third time. The Congress leadership is of the view that by making Gehlot the party president, it can offer the chief minister post to Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan. By doing so, the party also wants to put an end to the animosity between the rival camps of Pilot and Gehlot and thereby rescue the Rajasthan Congress ridden with factionalism.

In case Gehlot declines the offer, the Congress party is considering senior leaders like Mukul Wasnik, Manish Tiwari and Shashi Tharoor. Also, the party is contemplating having four working presidents for the party to support the national president. Meanwhile, Gehlot denied that there was no such proposal to him from the party.

After the humiliating drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi has been insisting that the party find a new chief and that he would step down from the post taking moral responsibility for the defeat. Despite several leaders objected to Rahul Gandhi's decision, he remains hell-bent. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is showing no willingness to replace his brother as Congress chief.

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