A two-day visit of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ajay Maken, recently appointed in-charge of Rajasthan, to the State for interacting with the party functionaries was marked by protests and display of infighting. Rival factions in the ruling Congress sought Mr. Maken's attention to different issues.
Mr. Maken visited Ajmer on Wednesday and Jaipur on Thursday to meet a cross-section of party workers and office-bearers and obtained their feedback on the issues affecting the people. He also tried to evolve a consensus in the party’s State unit in the aftermath of the recent month-long political turmoil.
Congress workers tore posters, staged a protest and shouted slogans against Health Minister Raghu Sharma in Ajmer. Masuda MLA Rakesh Pareek staged a sit-in outside the police station demanding the release of party workers who were detained. In Jaipur, the party workers raised slogans outside the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters with the demand that Mr. Maken meet them individually.
Promises more meetings
Mr. Maken, who has replaced Avinash Pande as the AICC in-charge of Rajasthan, later said he was unable to give time to all the Congress workers because of restrictions imposed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he would hold a meeting every month in Jaipur and discuss the feedback submitted by Ministers in charge of districts.
Mr. Maken is also part of a three-member committee set up by the Congress to look into the issues raised by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and his supporters during the political crisis. His visits in August-end and this week assume significance for the impending organisational changes and Ministry reshuffle.
The senior Congress leader told reporters here that the coordination between the government and the party structure would be strengthened and denied that there were any divisions or factionalism in the State unit.
Mr. Pilot said here on Friday that Mr. Maken had interacted with the Congress functionaries in an “open atmosphere” and their feedback would help strengthen the party. He described the protests by rival factions as “over-enthusiasm” of party workers because of limited time available for interactions.