Ten days to go for counting of votes in five states, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday held a surprise meeting with Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Chief Ministers, respectively.
While party leaders said they discussed the post-poll strategy, sources said the Gehlot government’s decision to implement the old pension scheme for state government employees was also on the discussion table.
The tussle between the two states over supply of coal by Chhattisgarh to Rajasthan was also discussed. Gehlot has already written two letters to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, seeking her intervention to persuade Chhattisgarh to speed up clearances for mining coal for power plants.
Baghel is learnt to have apprised Rahul about protests by people from tribal communities who may face displacement and concerns regarding the environmental impact.
In his letter to Sonia earlier this month, Gehlot had argued that Rajasthan may suffer power crisis due to outage of 4,340 MW power plant over non-availability of coal from a block in Chhattisgarh, which might not only adversely reflect on the performance of his government but also create a precarious situation, as both states are governed by the Congress. He wanted Sonia to advise Baghel to expedite requisite pending approvals for the coal blocks in Hasdeo Aranya forests to enable Rajasthan to start mining activities at the earliest.
In 2015, the Centre had allocated three coal blocks in Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja district to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL). Gehlot’s letters to the party’s central leadership and his Chhattisgarh counterpart notwithstanding, the Mine Developer and Operator for RRVUNL Adani Enterprise, left almost 55 million tonnes of coal in the first phase of mining in Chhattisgarh’s PEKB coal blocks.
Sources said the announcement made by Gehlot in the state Budget last week to restart the old pension scheme for government employees appointed after January 1, 2004 also came up for discussion in Sunday’s meeting. The central leadership, keen to woo back the salaried middle class, is said to be keen that Chhattisgarh also announce the same in the state Budget but the state has fiscal constraints.
Sources said Baghel was asked to look at the financial implications of this on the state.
The Congress is betting big on Gehlot’s announcement to implement the old pension scheme.
The leaders also discussed the post-poll strategy. The Congress hopes it will emerge in front in at least two states — Uttarakhand and Goa — and is also hoping against hope in Punjab. Sources said the Chief Ministers could be rushed to the states for government formation efforts if the party finishes at a striking distance from the halfway mark.