Gehlot manages to pass the buck to Girija Vyas

Besieged Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot appears to have found his way back into the good books of his Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, whom he met for the second consecutive day fuelling speculation that Gehlot may retain his post despite growing demands for his head following the party's shocking defeats during the recent state assembly by-elections.

Following Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her Maharashtra counterpart Vilasrao Deshmukh, Gehlot was the third chief minister of a Congress party-ruled state to be summoned by Sonia, giving indications that she is in the process of getting rid of some of the deadwood from the party and fine-tuning it before the crucial round of state polls later this year.

However, it is clear by now that both Dikshit and Gehlot may have escaped the axe, while Deshmukh continues to face uncertainty about his future.

According to Congress party sources, Gehlot, who has been camping in the national capital for the past three days sensing danger to his chair, pleaded his case successfully with Sonia and has ensured that the blame for the party's poor electoral performance during by-election goes to the state unit president Girija Vyas.

Gehlot himself said that he discussed various populist measures that he has up his sleeve to prop up the party yet again in the state besides discussing a possible alternative to Vyas.

Although no name has emerged as the front-runner to the state unit chief's post, it is believed that Sonia and Gehlot were in agreement that the next party chief should be from the Jat community for a better caste balance.

Gehlot's complain about non-cooperation from Vyas, whom he blamed for loss of three assembly seats last month, seems to have cut ice with Sonia as her ouster is seen as a foregone conclusion, at least to show that the party is serious about improving its performance.

Vyas, when contacted, said that although she has not been asked to put in her papers, she will do it the moment she is asked to do so.

Vyas is not the only state unit chief facing the axe. Notwithstanding Deshmukh's fate, the party's Maharashtra unit chief Govindrao Adik and the Karnataka unit chief Allam Veerabhadrappa are also likely to go. Veerabhadrappa has already tendered his resignation.

Party sources continue to insist that what may have saved both Gehlot and Dikshit is the fact that both these states are due for polls in September-October this year and any change of guard now will leave their replacements with no time to make their presence felt.

Instead, the two chief ministers may be asked to revamp their council of ministers to give better representations to some of the prominent castes in order to lure them to vote for the party.