Ashok Gehlot to Pilot Rajasthan, Sachin Co-Pilot: CM Race Ends
The Congress high command announced that Gehlot would be leading the state as the next CM.
New Delhi, December 12: Ashok Gehlot, who has served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan on two previous occasions, has been re-assigned the charge by the party high command. Another contender of the chief ministerial post, Sachin Pilot will be deputy chief minister of Rajasthan. At the meeting of Congress legislators-elect, it was decided to leave the decision on party president Rahul Gandhi. Subsequently, the Congress high command announced that Gehlot would be leading the state as the next CM.
Gehlot, 67, is one of the members of the "Congress old guard" -- a reference to leaders associated with the party since the Indira Gandhi years. His entry into politics could be dated back to 1971 -- when he was handpicked by Indira Gandhi as the NSUI Rajasthan unit president. Rahul Gandhi Tweets Picture With Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot.
Gehlot made his electoral mark in 1984 -- when he was elected from the Jodhpur parliamentary seat. He was re-elected from the constituency in 1991, 1996 and 1998. He subsequently returned to state politics after the Congress ousted the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat-led BJP government in Rajasthan.
Gehlot's first stint as the Chief Minister lasted between 1998 to 2003 -- when the party was ousted by the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP. In 2008, Gehlot succeeded in returning to power, and was appointed against as the CM.
In 2013, however, the Gehlot-led Congress suffered its worst electoral debacle in the state, being reduced to only 21 constituencies. The BJP, on the other hand, won 163 seats. With a three-fourth mandate, Raje was sworn-in again as the Chief Minister.
Following the rout, Gehlot had taken a back-seat in state politics -- whereas, Sachin Pilot took the upper hand in leading the party in Rajasthan. The latter, however, maintained his political stature by playing a key role for Congress to improve its prospects in neighbouring Gujarat.
Sachin Pilot, son of late senior Congress leader Rajesh Pilot, is a former Lok Sabha MP from Ajmer. He held the ministry of corporate affairs during the second of the UPA government. He completed his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. On 6 September 2012, Sachin became the first Union minister of India to be commissioned as an officer in the Territorial Army.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2018 03:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).