Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has dismissed speculative reports about an alleged “two-and-a-half-year” power-sharing arrangement for the chief ministership in the Congress-led Karnataka government, calling them a figment of the media’s imagination.
Talking to reporters at the Congress state headquarters here on Saturday, Gehlot asserted, “There is neither discord nor dissidence within the ruling dispensation in Bengaluru, the entire Congress is a united entity under the leadership of the party president Mallikarjun Kharge and LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The news-persons write reports of infighting, factionalism and dissidence based on their wishful thinking and imagination.”
“Their (scribes) problem is that positive straight news does not impact as attention-catching or punchy a story. So they turn to speculative themes without due attribution. For instance, about the two-and-a-half-year term, nobody knows whether this decision was taken (or not taken) at the time of formation of the government there,” he said.
“The media is running stories based on guesswork. This is not befitting. They should not have done so. They should have asked Kharge Sa’ab or Rahulji, and should have taken the version of the Chief Minister and/or the Deputy Chief Minister on the issue,” he added.
The senior Congress leader also reiterated his stance on the issue of the functioning of the Election Commission and the “undue” haste in SIR procedures.
“Why is the commission in haste and wants to conclude the process briefly in a short period. The elections in the state are still three years away, so why has the ECI given a short deadline for closing the process,” the three-time ex-CM quipped.
“Moreover, the matter is sub judice in the Supreme Court; hence, the ECI should not have even begun the process in 12 states, including Rajasthan,” he said.