Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken submitted his resignation as the party’s Rajasthan in-charge on Wednesday.
According to India Today, when the state chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s replacement was being talked about in September and a meeting was announced to decide who would replace him, over 90 MLAs loyal to Gehlot submitted their resignation protesting against it.
Maken expected the party to take action against this but nothing was done. This was one of the catalysts for Maken’s decision to quit, as quoted by India Today’s sources.
Maken had repeatedly expressed his unwillingness to continue as the in-charge of Rajasthan, according to PTI sources said on Wednesday. He had written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on November 8 citing the developments on September 25, which warrants the party’s interest in having a new in charge of Rajasthan.
At that time, Maken had failed to convene a meeting of MLAs to pass a one-line resolution to authorise the Congress president to appoint a new leader in Rajasthan after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who was considered then as the frontrunner for the post of the party chief.
Gehlot had apologised publicly later for failing to get the resolution passed and opted out of the race for the Congress president after meeting then-party chief Sonia Gandhi.
In his letter, Maken said it was “imperative to have a new in-charge as soon as possible” as the Bharat Jodo Yatra is coming to Rajasthan early next month and there is a bypoll on December 4.
“Wedded to the ideology of Congress for the last three generations and being in active Congress politics for over 40 years, I will always remain an ardent follower of Rahul Ji, whom I trust and have faith in beyond words,” Maken stated.
According to sources, Maken stated that he wants to concentrate in Delhi through trade unions and NGOs.
He also intends to raise the issues of air pollution and fight for the rights of street vendors, slum dwellers and residents of unauthorised colonies, for whom he made specific valuable contributions as a minister earlier, the sources said.
(With PTI inputs)
