Gehlot, Pilot to fight Rajasthan polls, say no infighting in Cong
NEW DELHI: Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress president Sachin Pilot will both contest the December 7 assembly elections in Rajasthan, heightening the suspense on who the party will choose as its chief ministerial candidate in case it is voted back to power in the state.
Announcing the decision at a news conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, Gehlot said both he and Pilot would contest the assembly polls.
Gehlot, 67, and Pilot, 41, are strong contenders for the chief minister’s post in case the Congress wins the elections in the state where governments tend to alternate between the party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) every five years. The surprise move to field both for election to the assembly maintains the suspense on who the Congress will ultimately pick for the post.
On the declaration of the chief ministerial candidate ahead of the elections, Gehlot said the tradition of the Congress is to announce the name only after the polls in consultation with the elected legislators. Since Inde- pendence, no Congress leader has generally been named as the chief ministerial candidate ahead of the polls, he added, conceding that the party has made exceptions sometimes.
Many of the exceptions have come in recent years. It named Captain Amarinder Singh as its CM face in Punjab, Virbhadra Singh in Himachal Pradesh; Harish Rawat in Uttarakhand and Sheila Dikshit in Uttar Pradesh last year; Siddaramaiah in Karnataka this year and Tarun Gogoi in Assam in 2016. The Congress fancies its chances in Rajasthan and is banking on anti-incumbency against chief minister Vasundhara Raje to wrest power.
“With the instructions of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and on Gehlotji’s request, I have decided to contest the assembly elections,” Pilot told reporters.
“We all will together ensure a massive victory for the Congress in the upcoming polls.”
While Gehlot, a two-time chief minister of Rajasthan, is expected to seek re-nomination from Sardarpura seat in Jodhpur, a decision on Pilot’s constituency will be taken soon.
Pilot, a two-time Lok Sabha member, will contest his first assembly elections. He represented Dausa in the Lok Sabha in 2004 and then Ajmer in 2009. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’S Sanwarlal Jat defeated him from Ajmer.
Political experts said the suspense over the CM face could hurt the Congress in the polls because the BJP will seek to project it as “increased infighting” in the Opposition party.
“The suspense on the leadership issue might hurt the Con- gress. Besides, the BJP will try to use the issue as a tool to guide or misguide people and they have a reason to claim that there are still differences between the two leaders,” said Jaipur-based political analyst Narayan Bareth.
Gehlot downplayed reports of infighting in the state unit of the Congress. “The reports of infighting in the Rajasthan Congress are baseless and spread by the BJP. We are unitedly fighting the assembly elections.”
The Congress is likely to release its first list of candidates for Rajasthan soon.
IN 2013, THE BJP ROUTED THE RULING CONGRESS, WINNING 163 OF THE 200 SEATS. THE CONGRESS MANAGED JUST 21 SEATS.
On Pilot’s statement – that he would contest the elections on the directions of party president Rahul Gandhi and on Gehlot’s request – BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “Gehlot came across as a nivedankarta (pleader) before someone who is a generation younger and almost his son’s age.”
In the 2013 assembly elections, the BJP routed the ruling Congress, winning 163 of the 200 seats in the state. The Congress managed just 21 seats. The BJP continued with its winning streak in the 2014 general elections, winning all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan.
In the past 25 years, no ruling party has come back to power in Rajasthan.
Counting of votes in Rajasthan will be taken up with four other states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram – on December 11.