The Congress is planning to put up a united show in Rajasthan to win the assembly elections later this year amid reported infighting between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.

Congress leaders Sachin Pilot and Rahul Gandhi, AICC in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Randhawa and Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Dotasra met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on July 6 and held discussions related to election preparedness.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal said the party leaders have agreed on fighting the polls unitedly.

"We never announce the chief ministerial candidate, but we will fight the election together and unitedly," Venugopal said when asked under whose leadership the party will contest the upcoming polls.

The party, however, refrained from commenting on any peace formula between Gehlot and Pilot.

Pilot said the Congress will focus on fighting the elections with an aim to defeat the BJP and its corrupt politics. Its objective would be to find candidates who will ensure confidence in the minds of the people.

“We deliberated on how the cycle of BJP and Congress coming to power alternately can be broken and Congress can come to power. We agreed that we can work hard in the next few months and ensure Congress’s return to power,” Pilot said.

The party workers will take the Congress government’s policies to the people and ensure that Congress comes to power in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. “And this will also have an impact on the 2024 polls,” he said.

The party also said that it will decide its candidates for the polls by the first week of September and winnability will be the only criterion for their selection.

Venugopal said the meeting was a preparatory one about Rajasthan during which the party leadership took some important decisions about election management in the state.

He also announced that all ministers, MLAs and leaders will go house to house to take the various schemes of the state government to the people, and the party's campaign would start from Friday.

(Edited by : Pradeep John)

First Published:Jul 6, 2023 6:57 PM IST