A meeting of senior Rajasthan Congress leaders in Jaipur witnessed a light-hearted exchange between former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as the party discussed its strategy ahead of the upcoming panchayat elections. The conversation centred on the question of who was currently in charge, prompting laughter among those present. Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara was also part of the interaction.

When Gehlot entered the room where Pilot and Randhawa were standing, he referred to Pilot as the Punjab in-charge. He then jokingly pointed out the changing responsibilities between the two leaders, recalling that Randhawa had earlier been Pilot’s in-charge and was now responsible for Rajasthan while Pilot had taken charge of Punjab. The exchange prompted laughter among the Congress leaders gathered at the meeting.

Pilot responded by turning the joke towards Gehlot, telling him that he was effectively in charge of everyone regardless of whether the responsibility concerned Rajasthan or Punjab. He then addressed Dotasara before Gehlot continued the banter by describing himself as the “permanent in-charge” of Rajasthan. The exchange came during a broader closed-door discussion involving several senior leaders of the state unit.

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The meeting was held to discuss the Congress strategy and candidate selection for the forthcoming panchayat elections. It brought together Pilot, Randhawa, Gehlot, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully and Dotasara. The discussions followed the party’s recent performance in the urban local body elections, where Congress faced organisational challenges despite recording a relatively narrow gap in vote share with the BJP.

Congress managed to form boards in 94 urban local bodies, compared with 197 for the BJP, according to the report. An internal committee headed by former Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi is examining the reasons behind the party’s inability to convert its numbers into control in several cities, including Pali and Ajmer. Party sources have also pointed to cross-voting and difficulties in securing the support of Independents across several local bodies.

The senior leadership is now seeking to strengthen coordination before the panchayat polls. After the meeting, Pilot said Congress would reach out to voters in villages and seek to improve its performance. He also raised issues including an alleged fertiliser shortage in Rajasthan and accused the BJP government of misusing official machinery, while saying Congress would prioritise candidates with clean public records. The meeting followed Congress general secretary KC Venugopal’s recent visit to the state and renewed discussions among the party’s senior leaders.

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