Next Rajasthan polls will be fought under Ashok Gehlot, says Shanti Dhariwal

JAIPUR: Backing chief minister Ashok Gehlot's statement of last week that there would be no change of guard in the state, cabinet minister Shanti Dhariwal on Saturday said some people misfeed the media with rumours of change just to remain relevant in public memory.
Dhariwal asserted that the state's next assembly election would be fought under Gehlot.
The minister's remarks were seen in the Congress circles as a veiled attack on the Sachin Pilot camp, which has been demanding replacement of Gehlot with the former. The intermittent tussle between Gehlot and Pilot camps got reignited this time after poll strategist Prashant Kishor made a presentation before Congress president Sonia Gandhi on rejuvenating the party ahead of the 2023 state elections and the 2024 general elections.
On being asked about news reports saying that the Rajasthan chief minister was likely to be changed ahead of the elections, minister Dhariwal said, "People keep getting such reports published in the media just to remain alive/relevant." He added, "The truth is that the people, the MLAs and the party high command want Gehlot to continue as the CM."
Dhariwal was in New Delhi on behalf of Gehlot for a joint conference of CMs and chief justices of high courts and spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the event. He dismissed Pilot's meetings this month with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as 'routine'. "They (Gandhi family) meet all leaders; it's the party high command's job to take everyone along," said Dhariwal.
He laughed off at the possibility of a Punjab-like scenario unfolding in Rajasthan. In the Punjab elections early this year, the Aam Aadmi Party stumped both Congress and BJP to form the state government with a thumping majority. "Who can make a Punjab-like situation here?" the minister asked.
Congressmen in Rajasthan believe that the tussle between the Gehlot and Pilot camps would grow until the Rajya Sabha elections due in the state in June.
On April 22, Gehlot dismissed similar reports and stated at a government function in Jaipur saying, "Sonia Gandhi has given me the chance to become the chief minister thrice. When I became the chief minister for the first time in 1998, I authorised her that my resignation will be permanently with her."