Rajasthan Minister stakes claim to CM post, says any Congress worker can become Chief Minister

The Congress has seen recurrent factionalism in the state with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party leader Sachin Pilot at loggerheads over the issue of leadership in the state.

With Rajasthan slated to go to Assembly polls this year, the rift within the Congress party for chief ministerial post has resurfaced with state minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas staking a claim to the top post. Speaking to media persons at the kite festival, the Rajasthan Minister said, "Any Congress worker can become the Chief Minister and nobody has exclusive rights to the post. Ashok Gehlot, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Sachin Pilot and Govind Singh Dotasara are all Congress workers only and anyone can become CM. In Congress, people choose the chief minister."

Regarding his own assembly constituency, Civil Lines, Khachariyawas said earlier three Chief Ministers of Rajasthan were from the land of Khachariawas and asked why the highest chair cannot come from Civil Lines this time. "Why can't the supreme chair come in Civil Lines? We haven't committed a crime. We are also working and everyone has equal rights in politics. I am not asking for a chair, I am talking about after the elections. I am speaking my mind and everyone has the right to express their opinion in politics," he said.

The Rajasthan Minister also claimed he would win the next assembly elections by more than 40,000 votes. He further said that he is ready to resign from his ministerial post if the BJP can prove that the Rajasthan government has not waived the loan of the farmers

"BJP leaders give false statements about the farmer loan waiver. If the BJP members prove that the Rajasthan government does not waive off the loans of the farmers, then I will resign from the post of minister," he said. According to Khachariyawas, the Rajasthan government has waived off loans worth Rs 15,000 crore to about 22 lakh farmers.

Khachariyawas said that a bill should be passed in the Lok Sabha to stop politics in the name of caste and religion. "Today there is an atmosphere of hatred in the country. To overcome this, Rahul Gandhi is taking out Bharat Jodo Yatra. Today, on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti, politicians should take a pledge that they will remove the growing hatred in the country. There should be no caste politics in the country and in this regard, a bill should also be passed in the Lok Sabha," he said.

The Rajasthan Minister said that as Rahul Gandhi's beard grows, inflation and GST will go down proportionately. The Congress has seen recurrent factionalism in the state with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party leader Sachin Pilot at loggerheads over the issue of leadership in the state.

Last year, there was a "political crisis" in the party-ruled state during the Congress Presidential Election when there was a race between Ashoke Gehlot and Pilot for the post of Chief Minister of Rajasthan. (ANI)

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