Next Rajasthan Congress President may be Jat

Rajasthan Congress is now playing his favorite card again, "The Jat Vote Bank" in Rajasthan for Assembly elections in the state which is still two-and-a-half years away but the Congress is doing all it can to return to power. Feeling the heat from its strongest traditional vote bank – the Jats – the party is trying its best to keep them in good humour. In its latest attempt to appease the community, the Congress has decided to appoint a Jat leader as the president of state Congress.

State vice-president Dr Chandrabhan has emerged as one of the strongest contenders for the post and may replace Dr CP Joshi soon. "The high command has decided that a Jat leader would head the state Congress. Both Narendra Budhania and Dr Chandrabhan were strong nominees, but the latter seems to have found favour," a senior party leader said. The decision is believed to have been influenced by the party's drubbing in the 2003 Assembly polls, largely attributed to the indifference of Jat voters, who, until 1999 Lok Sabha elections, had been the biggest vote bank of the Congress since independence. The community was apparently won over by the BJP on the issue of OBC reservation and the promise of a Jat chief minister. The high command is not comfortable with the idea of having a Jat chief minister and neither has it found a suitable candidate, therefore, it decided to give the Jats the next most important job - that of the PCC chief.