Gehlot’s dig at Pilot: Ambitions are good but approach is key

JAIPUR: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said everyone in politics has ambitions but how they approach their target makes all the difference – an apparent reference to Congress leader Sachin Pilot raising questions over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments in praise of Gehlot at a public event.

Speaking at a tribal function in Banswara district on November 1, Modi had said Gehlot was the country’s “senior-most chief minister”. The next day, Pilot, mentioning former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s exit from the party, said: “I find the praise by PM Modi (of CM Gehlot) very interesting. The PM similarly praised Ghulam Nabi Azad in Parliament. We all saw what happened after that. It was an interesting development, it shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

During an interaction with reporters in Baran on Friday, Gehlot was asked about the challenges he faces within the party. “There aren’t any challenges but in politics, every person has ambition, which should be there and there is nothing wrong in it. But the approach makes a difference,” he said, in a veiled reference to Pilot. “Our focus is winning the elections, which is necessary in public and country’s interest...”

Asked why the PM’s praise

What praise? It was fact. He didn’t talk about my performance.

ASHOK GEHLOT

sparked unease, Gehlot said: “What praise? It was fact. He didn’t talk about my performance. Had he, then he would have agreed to my suggestions of making Mangarh Dham a monument of national status and implementing Chiranjeevi Health Scheme across the country. Had he agreed to my proposals, I would’ve agreed he was praising me.”

Assembly elections are due in Rajasthan in 2023. The state has been alternating between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata party for the last 20 years.

On anti-incumbency against his government, Gehlot said: “Neither is it there, nor will it happen. Our team is working well… we brought good schemes.”

Ashok Gehlot