Jaipur: It was a matter of luck that Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was speaking at an event on Friday when the Jharkhand assembly elections were just announced.
Seizing the moment, Gehlot took on the Congress leadership in Maharashtra and Haryana for not “making any effort” to win the assembly elections. He also spoke about how the Congress, along with other opposition parties, should turn the prevailing public mood against the economic slowdown of the Modi regime, in their favour.
Gehlot’s comments make it apparent that the chief minister is not beyond putting in all effort to stay relevant in national politics.
Gehlot had served as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary from December 2017 to January 2019 and was expected to be Congress’s leading name in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, he unpredictably returned to Rajasthan politics just ahead of the state assembly polls in 2018.
Attaining the top post in Rajasthan wasn’t easy for Gehlot this time because of the presence and impact of Sachin Pilot. After intense lobbying, Gehlot was chosen.
Also read | Ashok Gehlot: The Magician in Rajasthan Congress
“I deserved to be the CM,” Ashok Gehlot had said in a press conference after presenting the state budget earlier this year. “It was clear who should become the CM and who should not. Respecting public sentiment, Rahul Gandhi, as Congress president, gave me the chance,” he had further said.
Many believe that Gehlot’s return as Rajasthan CM had shrunk his stature in national politics. Even in the state, things look less than bright for Gehlot with the party reduced to zero in the Lok Sabha polls and his own son Vaibhav losing from his hometown, by a huge margin.
A photo tweeted by Rahul Gandhi, with Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot. Photo: Twitter/Rahul Gandhi
However, Gehlot popularly known as the ‘political magician’, doesn’t seem to have given up. His latest attempt of grabbing the chance to speak on behalf of the party, hints at his ambition.
Speaking at the event, he said, “Realising that the party couldn’t succeed, they [Congress in Maharashtra and Haryana] stopped trying to make any effort to win the assembly elections. The party should fight elections with all their strength and energy and not with a defeatist mindset.”
Gehlot also said that the Congress and other opposition parties should milk the anger and distress that have developed against the Narendra Modi led BJP government at the centre. “People are fuming because of the mismanagement of the economy. It’s time for us to hit the streets.”
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“And when the agitation kicks off, those who are working under pressure now…the judiciary, Income Tax [department], ED or CBI..their ways will change. When the mood will change, the mood of the public on the streets will change. Bureaucrats and agencies, they will understand that there can be a change anytime. Now the country is going in one direction, look at the judiciary. We never expected that the judiciary will behave this way,” he said.
He also questioned the five-phased elections in Jharkhand.
“The EC has announced that elections in Jharkhand will be held in five phases. Why were Jharkhand elections not held along with those at Haryana and Maharashtra? And what’s the logic behind having five-phase elections in such a small state? The Election Commission is acting on a whim and there is nobody to question it. All the institutions have been destroyed. Look at the Planning Commission,” he said.
Coming from a family of magicians, Ashok Gehlot was initially called a “gilli billi” in Sanjay Gandhi’s Congress circles. Photo: Facebook/Ashok Gehlot
When asked about the low level of enthusiasm among central leadership in the recent elections, he replied, “The central leadership goes when there is a demand. There was an atmosphere that we will lose the elections anyway. When you yourself think that way, it’s a blunder.”
He also accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of working as an “extra constitutional authority.” The ministers and governors are appointed after the Sangh approves of them, but the media is silent on the role of RSS in such critical appointments.
Also read: Gehlot Backtracks Amid Opposition to Changes in Local Bodies Elections
“It was said during the Emergency that Sanjay Gandhi was acting like an extra constitutional authority. What is the RSS now? And is the media writing about it? The RSS is being consulted before appointing a chief minister or a minister. Every minister has an RSS person working with him as an OSD; their writ runs and not the minister’s but the media does not write all this,” he said.
Recently, the Gehlot government itself had faced criticism for its decision to allow unelected members to contest elections for the posts of mayor and chairpersons to urban local bodies.
Apart from the BJP, deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot had also publicly opposed Gehlot’s decision. After the matter was placed before Congress’s Delhi high command, Gehlot was forced to roll it back.