How Vaghela is adding to Cong’s woes

Shankersinh Vaghela continues to keep the Congress leadership on tenterhooks. On Wednesday, the Leader of Opposition in poll-bound, BJP-ruled Gujarat remained absent from a crucial party meeting.

His “absence” comes mere days before Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi is to visit the State, and at a time when the State unit is still contending with the resignation of Gurudas Kamat, the high-command’s pointman for the State.

Wednesday’s meeting had passed a resolution urging Congress leadership to make Rahul Gandhi the party chief and discussed critical booth-level planning for the Assembly elections.

Over the last few months, the 77-year-old Vaghela has been adopting pressure tactics, apparently in order to wrest the best possible deal for his political future. The former RSS-BJP strongman, who joined the Congress 17 years ago, had initially ruled himself out as a possible party candidate for CM, only to later tell reporters that he would see them in the Chief Minister’s chambers on Gudi Padwa (the Gujarati New Year) in 2018. His supporters have also been running a campaign on social media, rooting for him becoming CM.

Some party leaders expect Vaghela to drop a “bombshell” soon. Among all the party leaders, ‘Bapu’ is viewed as the most charismatic and resourceful, commanding a mass following.

At the end of a month-long awareness drive conducted by GPCC in the tribal areas of the state, the party’s traditional bastion, Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally at Dediapada, Narmada district, on May 1, the state’s Foundation Day.

Although Kamat had asked the party leadership to relieve him of all posts, as a prelude to his retirement from active politics, it is learnt that the veteran Maharashtra Congressman’s presence at a meeting of Congress MLAs at Vaghela’s residence earlier this month, had invited the displeasure of the high command. At the meeting, held on April 18, 36 of the Congress’ 57 MLAs in attendance urged the party leadership to name Vaghela as its CM candidate. Interestingly, State Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki was not present in that meeting.

Vaghela had also claimed that the BJP was trying to poach 20 Congress legislators in the state. This is being construed as arm-twisting the party into making him at the very least, the election campaign in-charge in the State.

The party leadership’s “unhappiness” is seen as the reason behind Vaghela’s “absence” from GPCC meeting held in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, and also as a rebuke to Solanki.

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