Amid high drama around the formation of a government in Maharashtra, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday briefed the Congress MLAs-elect staying at a luxury resort near here about the party’s stand and obtained their views on the latest developments. The Congress has said that it is in discussion with the Nationalist Congress Party.
Mr. Gehlot, accompanied by his Chhattisgarh counterpart, Bhupesh Baghel, reached the resort late in the evening and had a meeting for more than 30 minutes with the newly elected legislators. The MLAs were shifted to the resort on the Jaipur-Delhi National Highway, about 20 km from the city, on Friday and Saturday to thwart the “poaching attempts” during the current impasse.
The MLAs later left for Mr. Gehlot’s official residence in the Civil Lines, where a dinner was hosted in the honour of former President Pratibha Patil. State Medical and Health Minister Raghu Sharma, who accompanied the legislators, told presspersons outside the resort that everything was “very fine”.
According to the sources in Pradesh Congress Committee, several MLAs were willing to support a Shiv Sena-led government. The leaders have held several rounds of meetings at the resort to discuss the situation and weigh the options since Saturday, but the MLAs were told that the final decision would be taken by the Congress high command.
Earlier in the day, senior party leaders left the resort to attend the Congress Working Committee's meeting in Delhi. They included former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, former Chief Ministers Prithviraj Chavan and Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat and AICC general secretary Avinash Pande.
All the 44 MLAs were shifted to the Rajasthan resort in two phases on Friday and Saturday.
Over the past two days, they visited several tourist destinations in Jaipur and went to the famous Lord Brahma temple in Pushkar and the historic dargah in Ajmer. Some of the MLAs were reportedly accompanied by their family members.
The MLAs were escorted by the police and Congress party workers when they ventured out of the resort. Curious villagers living near the resort gathered at its entrance several times to catch a glimpse of Mr. Gehlot and other senior Congress leaders.
