Rahul Gandhi holds individual meetings with Rajasthan CM hopefuls Gehlot, Pilot

New Delhi, Dec 13 Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday held one-on-one meetings with Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, the two boss clerical wannabes in Rajasthan, before accepting a last approach who might head government in the desert state.

Gandhi also held thoughts with the party's central spectator K C Venugopal and gathering accountable for Rajasthan Avinash Pande and took contributions from them to find out the perspectives of the Congress' recently chosen lawmakers on the issue, sources said.

The Congress president gave separate hearings to both Pilot and Gehlot, one representing the young face of the party and the other, the old guard.

The individual meetings lasted around 10-15 minutes each and neither Gehlot nor Pilot conversed with the media after the meeting.

There has been frenzied campaigning for the top post and both leaders have staked their cases for the post of chief minister, sources said.

Pilot's supporters raised slogans outside Gandhi's office. They vociferously voiced their interest on Wednesday evening too when state officials were meeting in the Rajasthan capital.

Gandhi sought the views of party workers through an internal messaging system with a pre-recorded message requesting that they send their views directly to him through the application.

A choice on the post of chief minister will be taken by tonight to empower the pledge taking soon. The Congress has just asserted some authority for government arrangement in Rajasthan, even though it fell slightly short of the simple majority mark.