Ajay Maken replaces Avinash Pande as AICC gen secy in-charge of Rajasthan

In a major change effected in the Congress set-up in Rajasthan following the truce called between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, the party on Sunday appointed senior leader Ajay Maken as AICC general secretary in-charge of the state in place of Avinash Pande.

A three-member committee, as had been agreed upon in talks Pilot had with senior Congress leaders, to look into issues that led to the political crisis, has also been constituted. It comprises AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel, general secretary in-charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal and Maken.

Pilot welcomed the appointment of Maken and setting up of the three-member panel.

Pande's exit is apparently a follow-up step taken in pursuance to the truce talks that were held in Delhi between Pilot and senior Congress leaders after which he had called off his rebellion and headed to Jaipur. Pilot is learnt to have conveyed to the party leadership his grievance about people who were in charge of acting as a medium between Jaipur and Delhi in the party set-up being prejudiced to his concerns. The former deputy chief minister and PCC president is learnt to have been at odds with Pande, who he saw as being pro-Gehlot and unsympathetic to his concerns.

A major takeaway of the peace talks was the setting up of a committee to look into the grievances of the rebel MLAs and to oversee and follow up the smooth resolution of the recent issues in Rajasthan Congress. All three members of the panel were actively involved in the resolution of the crisis. Patel and Venugopal had acted as key interlocutors for the Gandhis and had kept back channel talks with Pilot going. Maken had been sent to Rajasthan by the central leadership immediately after Pilot had gone into rebellion mode and he stayed put in the state overseeing the hectic political manouevering that the party set in motion to fend off the crisis, primarily by keeping the Congress flock together.