Proxy War? Ashok Gehlot's Close Aide Seeks Rajasthan Congress Chief's Resignation

The internal rift within the Congress has refused to die down after the party's defeat in the urban local body elections in Rajasthan. Disputes are continuously emerging from several districts and at different levels of the party.

Widening the cracks, former minister and member of the erstwhile Bharatpur royal family, Vishvendra Singh, has now directly targeted Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra.

The former minister, in a social media post on Wednesday, alleged irregularities in the distribution of councillor tickets in Bharatpur, and demanded Dotasra's resignation.

Singh, who is considered close to former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, also alleged that members of Dotasra's family were given benefits in recruitment examinations.

In separate Facebook posts, Singh said that there is only one reason behind Congress' defeat in the urban local body elections: both district presidents distributed tickets to their favourites and sidelined genuine party workers.

He alleged that in the 2018 and 2016 recruitments, Dotasra's daughter-in-law, Pratibha Poonia, his daughter-in-law's brother, Gaurav Poonia, and sister, Pragya Poonia, were all awarded the same 80 marks each in the interview.

Pratibha Poonia was selected in the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) in 2016, while Gaurav Poonia and Pragya Poonia were selected in 2018. He alleged that marks were secured through misuse of power and that all of them receiving identical marks raises serious suspicion.

He further alleged that Dotasra's son, Avinash Singh, was selected in RAS in 2016 and benefited from an OBC Non-Creamy Layer certificate. He also alleged that Dotasra's son-in-law's father, Ramesh Chand Poonia, was from the creamy layer but his children were still given the benefit of OBC reservation. He demanded a detailed investigation into all these matters.

He also alleged that during Dotasra's tenure as Education Minister, large-scale irregularities took place in the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET), pushing the future of hardworking children of poor farmers into uncertainty.

He appealed to the ruling BJP government and Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma to conduct a detailed investigation against Dotasra and take action so that the confidence of the youth in the government remains intact.

"Such corrupt leaders should resign immediately, or the Congress high command should take strict action against them and expel them from the party," he wrote.

In the 65-member Bharatpur Municipal Corporation, the BJP had won 20 seats, while Congress had won seven and independents had won 36 seats. A majority required 33 councillors.

Speaking on the issue, Dotasra said that the Congress party is getting stronger.

"I want to say that there are no differences or disagreements within us. This is the BJP's toolkit. At places, it tries to spread misinformation and attempts to portray differences among us," he said.

Singh's remarks have added to the controversy around the ongoing proxy war between Dotasra and Ashok Gehlot. 

Over the past few days, there have been instances of public statements reflecting differences between the two senior Congress leaders.