Vishvendra Singh Quits Congress Amid Rajasthan Congress Rift
Former Cabinet Minister in the Ashok Gehlot government, Vishvendra Singh, announced his resignation from the Congress party on Friday, two days after levelling allegations against state unit president Govind Singh Dotasra and accusing the party’s Bharatpur and Deeg units of sidelining “actual party workers” in the local body polls.
Sharing a statement on social media on Friday morning, Singh said it was “better to die with self-respect than suffocation”. Just a day earlier, following Singh’s attack, Dotasra had dismissed as “propaganda” the alleged differences within the party, saying, “There is no discord among us. This is the BJP’s toolkit. The BJP spreads propaganda and tries to show that there are differences within the Congress.”
“I have always taken decisions in life by listening to the voice of my beloved Giriraj Maharaj and my conscience. Today, the baseless statements made by some small-time so-called leaders have angered my workers. My conscience is also saddened and distressed. If the party for which I sacrificed my life has rewarded my loyalty, honesty, and dedication in this way, I am deeply shaken,” Singh wrote.
Earlier, Congress district presidents for Bharatpur and Deeg had reportedly sent a report against Singh to the party high command. In a post on September 30, the former minister had alleged that the two had distributed tickets to their favourites while sidelining “genuine party workers” and said that the voters had responded to this in the elections.
“Who is responsible for the ruin of Congress in Bharatpur-Deeg?” Singh had said, alleging that the voters were now ready to hold the district presidents and Dotasra accountable.
Singh said Bharatpur was the Chief Minister’s home district and the Congress should have been stronger there, and alleged that the local leadership had damaged the party.
In a separate post, he had also targeted Dotasra, saying that he misused his power in the previous Congress government to benefit his family members, saying, “Such corrupt leaders should resign with immediate effect, or the Congress party high command should take strict action against them and expel them from the party.”
The BJP has levelled similar allegations over the years and the Congress and Dotasra have refuted them on multiple occasions.
Singh said Friday that “I have always lived my life with dignity, respect, and self-respect. I have never compromised on my principles and ideals. My workers are angry because of the current tradition of chaploosi (flattery). If calling a spade a spade and not supporting falsehood is a sin, then I will do it every time. I neither do wrong nor tolerate wrong.”
He said that his public life is for the people and “I live for them and will die for them. Every drop of my blood has been, and will continue to be, shed for my workers, my voters, the people of my constituency, and the state. My public life is an open book. It is spotless, I have never allowed any stain to be put on my reputation, nor will I ever allow it to be put on my reputation.”
Within the Congress, his sudden broadside against Dotasra had given rise to the speculation that he may be on his way to join the BJP.
Three-term MP-MLA
Singh hails from the erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur and is the son of its last ruler Brijendra Singh, who died in 1995. An influential Jat leader from the region, he has earlier been a BJP MP.
He was first elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Bharatpur on a Janata Dal ticket in 1989. Then in 1993, he was elected as an MLA from Nadbai Assembly seat on a Congress ticket.
In 1999, he was in the BJP and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bharatpur, and then again in 2004. In 2013 and 2018, he was elected as an MLA from Deeg Kumher Assembly seat on a Congress ticket.
Beyond politics, he has been in the news for internal rifts within his family too.
2020 rebellion
Six years ago, Singh had made headlines as one of the key architects of then Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot-led rebellion against the Ashok Gehlot government in 2020.
The Special Operations Group had lodged two different FIRs based on the complaints by then government Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi. Both were lodged under IPC sections 124A (sedition) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy).
The first FIR was regarding the purported conversation between Vishvendra Singh and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat; following the rebellion and audio leaks, Vishvendra Singh was removed as Tourism Minister and was suspended from primary membership of the Congress party. The complaint, without naming either, had claimed that a conversation was played on social media and television channels, where two persons are heard talking, and transcribes their conversation.
“In the said conversation, the persons are planning a conspiracy to topple a democratically elected and legally established government, through exchange of money and by spreading unrest. This comes under sedition. Hence, please lodge a case against the conspirators as per rules, and take action,” the complaint by Joshi had said; he had also submitted the audio clip of the conversation.
With Pilot camp eventually returning to Jaipur, Vishvendra Singh was again handed the Tourism department, along with Civil Aviation, in a cabinet expansion in November 2021. Following his reinduction, he had apparently grown closer to Gehlot than to Pilot.
