After three days of churing, Ashok Gehlot has finally emerged as the Congress party’s mandate for the chief minister’s post in Rajasthan. Gehlot faced serious opposition in the race to the chief minister’s post in 1998 and 2008 as well.
Jat leaders in the Congress opposing him every time. This time, however, the challenge from Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot has been tougher.
After the jockeying for power since the results of the December 7 assembly polls came in on Tuesday, the Congress picked him over Mr Pilot on Friday afternoon to head the state government.
Casteism: The old fling of Congress
In December 2008, Jat leaders like then union minister Sis Ram Ola, former Rajasthan assembly speaker Parasram Maderna and newly elected lawmaker Sonaram had openly raised the demand for a Jat chief minister. Mr Gehlot is from the Mali community.
Then Pradesh Congress Committee president CP Joshi, who later became union minister after winning the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, also had chief ministerial aspirations. But he lost the 2008 assembly election with a margin of just one vote, ruling himself out of the race.
Amid protests by the Jat community, supporters of Mr Gehlot and Mr Ola clashed outside the guesthouse where AICC observers including Digvijay Singh were staying.
After intense consultations with the Congress Members of Legislative Assembly or MLAs, the observers forwarded their report to the then party president Sonia Gandhi, who cleared Mr Gehlot for the post.
In 1998, when the Congress won 150 seats, Mr Gehlot was picked as the chief minister for the first time. There were demands from the Jat community then as well that Rajasthan should get a chief minister from its ranks, with lobbying on Parasram Maderna.
Congress party won 96 seats in 2008 and Mr Gehlot ran the government with the support of six Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and a few independents.Then, Parasram Maderna’s son Mahipal Maderna was made the water resources minister in the Gehlot cabinet.
This time, the Congress won 100 seats out of the 199 where polling was held on December 7. After meetings in Jaipur between the MLAs and the AICC office bearers in Jaipur on Wednesday, the deliberations shifted to Delhi, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi meeting both contenders and other senior leaders.
Sachin Pilot’s supporters from his Gurjar community held a series of protests, blocking roads in Rajasthan, on Thursday when it appeared that the announcement naming Mr Gehlot was imminent.
However, Mr Gehlot ended up getting the job but Congress has been suffering leadership crisis for reall long.
Read more: राजस्थान चुनावः सीएम पद पर प्रियंका गांधी का दखल राहुल के नेतृत्व पर उठा रहा सवाल?
