Kharge and Rahul Gandhi brought together Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot

After months of public conflict, Congress declares it would run in elections together.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge met with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former Deputy Chief Minister, Sachin Pilot, on 29 May in the presence of senior party figure Rahul Gandhi, in an effort to broker a “peace formula” between the two feuding party leaders.

After a lengthy four-hour meeting, the Congress said that the two leaders would run for office together and issued images of the private session, in which Mr. Gehlot and Mr. Pilot appeared at ease and grinning.

Around six o’clock in the evening, Mr. Gehlot and the Congress leader met at the latter’s home with Mr. Gandhi and party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, the party’s representative for Rajasthan, eventually joined in after around 30 minutes.

Mr. Pilot eventually attended the meeting after more than two hours, which lasted until 10.15 p.m. In close proximity to Mr. Pilot’s “ultimatum” to the Gehlot Administration, this was the Chief Minister and Mr. Pilot’s first meeting in front of the party’s top leadership in many months. If his demands, which included one for a high-level probe into the alleged frauds under the former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s Government, were not satisfied by the end of the month, Mr. Pilot had threatened to start a State-wide movement.

“The four-hour discussion concluded with both leaders agreeing to campaign jointly and defeat the BJP in the polls. After the meeting, Mr. Venugopal informed reporters that both leaders had accepted the idea and had sent it over to the high command.

Although Mr. Venugopal remained vague about the suggestion, other ideas were floated, including the idea of re-electing Mr. Pilot as chairman of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) while Mr. Gehlot remained in his position as chief executive.

When reporters questioned Mr. Gehlot about a potential plan to get Mr. Pilot on board before to the meeting, he made it obvious that he was opposed to it. I’m not aware of any comparable custom in the Congress is the only place where a leader may make a demand and the party high leadership will accede. Such a formula has never been heard of before, Mr. Gehlot told reporters in Delhi.

“Such a thing has never occurred in the Congress before, and it won’t in the future. No leader or employee has the guts to make a position demand since the Congress party and its senior leadership are so powerful. That is not how things work,” he said.

According to a recent survey conducted between May 20 and May 25 in 200 Assembly districts, 69% of respondents said they still trusted the Congress under Mr. Gehlot, and his personal rating (69%) was higher than Mr. Pilot’s (31%).

In preparation for the upcoming elections, Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi, who was due to leave for the United States late on Monday night or early on Tuesday, met with the governors of many states, including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Mr. Kharge, Mr. Gandhi, and Mr. Venugopal met with Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders earlier in the day, including former chief ministers Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, among others. All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge J.P. Aggarwal and poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, who was crucial to the Congress’ victory in Karnataka, were in attendance.

“We had a long conversation. We anticipate receiving 150 seats in Madhya Pradesh, according to our own evaluation. We’re going to replicate what we did in Karnataka [in Madhya Pradesh]. After the meeting, Mr. Gandhi spoke with the media.

Mr. Nath dodged a question on serving as the party’s top ministerial face, but yet stated that “all are of the opinion that we will enter the polling fray unitedly.”

When asked if the party would offer assurances similar to those it had in Karnataka, Mr. Nath said that Madhya Pradesh had made a start with the “Nari Samman Yojana.” “Some of what we’ve done has already been publicised, and more will follow. We cannot discharge all of the rounds at once, Mr. Nath remarked.