Rajasthan turmoil: Shanti Dhariwal denies AICC’s indiscipline charges

The AICC had earlier issued show cause notices to Rajasthan’s parliamentary affairs minister Dhariwal, party’s chief whip in state assembly Mahesh Joshi, and chairman of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Dharmendra Rathore.

Rajasthan Congress leader Shanti Dhariwal on Thursday denied charges of indiscipline levelled against him for allegedly holding a parallel Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur on September 25, as claimed by AICC general secretary Ajay Maken.

Rajasthan Congress leader Shanti Dhariwal (PTI)

The AICC had earlier issued show cause notices to Rajasthan’s parliamentary affairs minister Dhariwal, party’s chief whip in state assembly Mahesh Joshi, and chairman of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Dharmendra Rathore.

A senior leader familiar with the development said Dhariwal in his response cited his decades-long loyalty to the Congress and denied being involved in any indiscipline. “The minister conveyed that no parallel meeting was held to the CLP,” said the leader, requesting anonymity.

Joshi said he got the notice only on Thursday and will reply by Friday evening.

Thursday was the last day to respond to the notices.

Dhariwal said in his response that party legislators “did not let him come (to attend CLP) as there was resentment among the MLAs over the news that a new CM face was being chosen from the 18 MLAs who rebelled in July 2020,” said the leader. “He clarified that whatever happened was in consensus with MLAs.”

In the notice, the AICC had sought reply as to why he hosted a parallel meeting of MLAs at his residence, pressuring them not to attend the official meeting.

It said: “This happened even when central observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken clarified they have come to speak to each MLA individually and impartially report to the Congress president.”