Congress' Ahmed Patel meets Sonia Gandhi, discusses Kota deaths, Maharashtra portfolio

On Saturday, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel met Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi over Kota infant deaths in Rajasthan's JK Lon Hospital. The death toll in the government hospital has reached 107 on Saturday, January 4. According to sources, he met Gandhi to discuss the portfolio distribution in Maharashtra as well. Patel's meeting with Gandhi at her residence is said to have lasted for around an hour.  

Read: Kota Infant Deaths: Om Birla assures full assistance to state, taps CSR for urgent relief

According to sources within the Congress, Ahmed Patel and Sonia Gandhi discussed the death of the children in Rajasthan. Discussions were also held on whether Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra or former party chief Rahul Gandhi will go to Kota to visit the hospital. Recently trouble mounted for Congress government in Rajasthan led by Ashok Gehlot after National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to Chief Secretary of Rajasthan to submit a detailed report within four weeks about the steps taken to address the issue. 

Even as the death toll of the infants in Kota’s JK Lon hospital rose, a carpet was laid out on the premises on Friday just before the visit of Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma. Earlier in the day, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot played down the need for the state's Health Minister to visit the JK Lone hospital. He contended that an expert team of doctors had already intervened after the incident came to light. 

Read: Congress' Ahmed Patel hails 'unparalleled commitment' of students amid rampant protests

Read: CM Gehlot invites Health Min Harsh Vardhan to Kota, to dispel politics over infant deaths

Rifts over portfolio allocation

Recently, sources reported rifts in the Maha Vikas Aghadi over portfolio allocation. Maharashtra Revenue Minister and Congress state president Balasaheb Thorat admitted to the infighting in his party over the Cabinet expansion. He conceded that there was disappointment in the Congress ranks as the number of MLAs interested in becoming ministers were much more than the number of ministries allocated to the party. Following up on this, Patel and Sonia Gandhi discussed the issue of portfolio distribution in Maharashtra. In the first Cabinet expansion last week, 10 more Congress MLAs were inducted as ministers in the Uddhav Thackeray-led cabinet, while two had sworn in as ministers along with Uddhav.

(With Agency inputs)

Read: Trouble mounts for Rajasthan govt as NRHC seeks detailed report on Kota infant deaths

Read: Kota infant deaths: Mayawati slams CM Gehlot; forewarns UP govt with Gorakhpur's example