Congress panel on Rajasthan to start hearing grievances next week, Ajay Maken to visit state on Sunday

NEW DELHI: Days after the Rajasthan crisis ended, a three-member central panel set up by the Congress to address issues of disgruntled MLAs including Sachin Pilot met here for the first time on Tuesday and decided to start from next week the process of redressing their concerns.
Sources said the new AICC general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken would also visit four divisional headquarters of the state starting Sunday in the first phase and would hear out senior leaders, office-bearers of the party's state unit, former and present legislators and ex-MPs.
The aim of the visit is to strengthen and reorganise the party at the block and district level.
During the meeting, it was decided that the process of redressing concerns of disgruntled leaders will start from next week.
They are also learnt to have discussed the modalities of going about resolving pending issues of all factions in the state Congress.
The panel would also help evolve a mechanism to ensure better coordination between the government and the party as well as between all factions of leaders in Rajasthan.
Some of the disgruntled legislators are also eyeing a come back in the government and some may be adjusted in the reorganised party in Rajasthan.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had set up a three-member panel of Ahmed Patel, K C Venugopal and Ajay Maken following the return of Pilot and other MLAs back into the party fold, after a month-long rebellion against chief minister Ashok Gehlot.
Both sides had expressed satisfaction over the formation of the committee to iron out differences and redress grievances.
Sources said the panel would meet again next week and start the process of meeting up with leaders, including Gehlot and his camp to help iron out differences between the two camps.
Sources said Maken will visit the four divisional headquarters of Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota and Bharatpur in the first phase and is expected to be there during the major part of next week.
During the second phase, he would visit three divisions of Bikaner, Jodhpur and Udaipur, sources said.
The Congress withered a storm of rebellion in Rajasthan after Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs raised a banner of revolt against the Congress government and challenged Ashok Gehlot as chief minister.
The party managed to save its government after it agreed to a patch up formula and the panel was formed to redress their grievances.