Jaipur: Aftermath of hectic electioneering and votng on Saturday, its business as usual in Rajasthan. The choc-a-bloc streets of of election period have gone silent all over again but there is a buzz in the corridors of power and whisper in discusion regarding the fate of CM Ashok Gehlot.
Now, the political future of 1,846 candidates in Rajasthan elections is now locked in EVM machines. The counting is due on December 3. Will Ashok Gehlot become CM for the fourth time if he wins? According to political observers, once he loses, it may be all over for him. Gehlot himself has been saying that his government will return, breaking the decades old tradition of power going to alternate hands after every election.
The voters have not given any government a second term since 1993. On Saturday, after casting his vote in Jodhpur, he put up a brave front saying the trend Congress will buck the trend this time.
The Congress high command had announced to go faceless to the assembly polls this time which means there is no official CM candidate as of now. The party leadership will take this decision later if the party conquers the desert state again.
So what will be Gehlot’s future in the long run?While some Congress leaders claim that Gehlot will become a fourth time CM if the party wins, there are other party leaders who say that Gehlot will not get a chance to become a four-time CM.“Gehlot has been CM thrice. This time, tickets have been given to candidates who are sure to face defeat. In fact, it was earlier decided that such candidates will not get tickets but they have been given a chance because Gehlot wanted them to contest. Now, if they lose, he will have to take the responsibility. Hence, the high command has put the ball in his court so that he can take the responsibility of whatever is the result in the elections,” said a party worker.
Another worker said, “Gehlot chose Design Box as the marketing agency for his work. The agency, in a way, relaunched the Logo of the Congress. All its ads were put across in the form of banners, posters and ads with dark pink and yellow colours. However, the tricolour logo of the party was hardly seen in these ads. Also, the agency made the Hand symbol go missing the initial time. It was only Gehlot’s face which was in the ad. Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govind Singh Dotasara raised his voice against this campaign. Eventually, his picture started coming in the ad.”The Design Box head allegedly badmouthed the Gandhi family but yet again the entire responsibility for the election campaign was given to that company.
In this endeavour, the high command has silently given the charge to Gehlot to decide so that he takes the responsibility for the campaign. If he wins, he is the boss, but if he loses, he will be the loser in the long run, he added.
At the eleventh hour, this agency brought in the faces of Sachin Pilot, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi in the campaigning when all surveys indicated that the party is not crossing the 70-mark in the number of seats, said another worker.
Political analyst Prakash Bhandari told news agency IANS that the chances are very low of Ashok Gehlot becoming the CM. If he doesn’t come to power, he will be left with one position, the Leader of the Opposition. However, the high command will give the position to either Sachin Pilot or CP Joshi.
It's either Gehlot or Pilot and there is no number three. Neither the Brahmin contribution was used in this election nor a Jat face or SC/ST. According to Bhandari, the Congress failed to manage it in Rajasthan and hence they will face consequences.
Bhandari added, "There is yet another issue and that is that a young leadership has not been groomed under Gehlot which has posed a challenge for the party.”
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