Ashok Gehlot’s perceived act of defiance in Jaipur on Sunday night has not only cast a shadow over his presidential prospects but is also threatening to water down the goodwill that Rahul Gandhi had generated for the beleaguered Congress through the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

What started as a plot to block Sachin Pilot’s ascent to the chief minister’s post in Rajasthan has now snowballed into a political crisis that has thrown the leadership question in disarray.

Although it is too early to say Gehlot is out of the presidential race, the dominant view in the party is that he has overreached himself in his quest to unsettle the high command’s intention to foist Pilot as his successor.

The party had almost psyched itself up for Gehlot as the next president, looking after the organisational management while Rahul led the political onslaught on the RSS-BJP hegemony. The contest likely to be set up by Shashi Tharoor and others was dismissed as procedural because Gehlot enjoyed the blessings of the Nehru-Gandhi family in addition to the entrenched forces in the high command structure.

Ashok Gehlot at a temple in Jaipur on Monday. PTI picture

But the mood has changed dramatically within hours, with most senior leaders and party functionaries expressing reservations about Gehlot’s defiant attitude.

“It is unlikely that he will get the same kind of support now, if he goes ahead and files the nomination paper for the party president’s post. He has definitely created a trust deficit,” an important party functionary told The Telegraph, conceding that “last night’s drama in Jaipur has triggered widespread dismay” in the party.

Many leaders underlined that the national discourse had changed after the Yatra gathered momentum, but the ugly spectacle had handed a political hammer to the BJP and other critics who were trying to divert attention from Rahul’s unique struggle. “They got a chance to show the Congress in bad light,” one office-bearer said, revealing that both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul were extremely upset.

Many other leaders said in off-the-record conversations that Gehlot may have irreparably damaged his chances. One of them said: “Everybody in the party knew he will oppose Pilot. But nobody anticipated this brazen revolt by the MLAs. The party general secretary in charge of Rajasthan (Ajay Maken) shouldn’t have called the Congress legislature party meeting without doing adequate groundwork. Gehlot’s consent for Pilot should have been extracted before the formal meeting.”

Although Gehlot has insisted that he had no role to play in the defiance of the MLAs and felt sorry about the ugly spectacle, few in the party believe that his staunch loyalists could have staged this drama against his wishes.

The MLAs — various numbers are now being cited, ranging between 55 and 92 -- refused to attend the legislature party meeting scheduled at 7pm on Sunday and instead reached the Speaker’s residence to offer resignations.

Many MLAs claimed that what had happened was spontaneous and Gehlot had nothing to do with it. At least two senior leaders, Pratap Singh Khacharoyawas and Mahesh Joshi, said on record that Gehlot was not aware that the MLAs were meeting and planning to submit resignations. One MLA accused Maken of conspiring against Gehlot by misrepresenting facts.

Central observers Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge returned to Delhi on Monday afternoon without meeting the MLAs. While an angry Maken refused to meet the chief minister in the morning, Gehlot had a brief discussion with Kharge, explaining his position amid the unexpected move by the MLAs. Gehlot supporters said blaming him would be wrong because the MLAs had been uncontrollably enraged at the prospect of Pilot becoming chief minister.

Maken and Kharge briefed Sonia. Senior leader Kamal Nath and general secretary-in-charge K.C. Venugopal were called for consultations on the future course of action. Maken said after the meeting with Sonia: “We have given a detailed presentation. She has asked us to give a report in writing which we will do tonight or tomorrow morning.”

Maken added: “The legislature party meeting was fixed in Jaipur after consultations with the chief minister. But most MLAs didn’t come. A group of four MLAs later came to set conditions for passing the resolution. They said the decision on the chief minister’s post will have to be taken only after October 19 (when the result of the presidential election is scheduled to be declared), the meeting with MLAs will happen in groups, and that the successor should be from among the 102 MLAs who remained loyal during Pilot’s rebellion.”

Maken said that resolutions are never passed with conditions. He said it would be difficult to wait till October 19 as Gehlot, after becoming party president, would not be able to act on the resolution moved by him now because there would be a conflict of interest.

“Gehlot cannot choose his own successor and hence the decision has to be taken now,” he said.

Maken said the observers wanted to meet each MLA separately to elicit their views but they did not agree.

He insisted this was an act of indiscipline by these MLAs. The Pilot group’s MLAs also decried the indiscipline and demanded action against those who organised the parallel meeting at the residence of senior leader Shanti Dhariwal, a Gehlot loyalist.

The options before the high command are limited, for any harsh action can topple the government. A fresh effort to resolve the crisis in Jaipur may be initiated after a couple of days.