Is the Congress now turning to Ashok Gehlot for some political magic for its national revival? Mr. Gehlot, 71, is expected to battle it out with Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor for the party’s top job in the coming presidential polls, but he is seen as the favourite to succeed Sonia Gandhi.
Born in a family of professional magicians in Jodhpur, Mr. Gehlot’s ability to outmanoeuvre his political rivals is quite legendary. Be it the recent Rajya Sabha elections, the rebellion against his government by his former deputy Sachin Pilot or handling the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls, his political wizardry has been on full display.
In the case of the Rajya Sabha elections this June, the Congress had the numbers to comfortably win two seats but faced a tight contest for the third. The party was a few MLAs short of the majority mark and BJP-backed media baron Subash Chandra stepped up his campaign to make it a “close contest”. Mr. Gehlot not only ensured the win of all three nominees of the Congress, but also secured an extra vote from the BJP camp.
“It’s only because of Gehlot ji‘s magic that I won,” Congress’ third candidate Pramod Tiwari had said soon after his surprise victory.
Jaipur-based journalist-cum- academic Rajan Mahan, who has closely followed Mr. Gehlot’s political career, said: “If the Congress is looking for a united Opposition before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, then Mr. Gehlot is the person who can bring together different parties”. For the last two governments that Mr. Gehlot put together in Rajasthan, he needed help from parties like the Tribal Party and the Left. “He is someone who can make people of different belief systems co-exist,” he added.
This trait came in handy in July 2020 when he faced an unprecedented rebellion from his younger colleague, Mr. Pilot, who was then both his deputy in the government and the chief of the Rajasthan Congress. Upset at being overlooked for the Chief Minister’s post in December 2018 when the Congress came to power under his presidency and ignored in the State government, Mr. Pilot, along with 18 MLAs, rebelled against the Chief Minister. The complaints of these MLAs ranged from being unable to get their work done to over-centralisation of power in the Chief Minister’s Office.
The sharp politician that Mr. Gehlot is, he alleged it to be ‘Operation Lotus’ in Rajasthan after the BJP succeeded in toppling the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh three months earlier. The charge was vehemently denied by Mr. Pilot, who insisted that it was about Mr. Gehlot’s style of functioning, not about splitting the party. But Mr. Gehlot got the upper hand after the unsuccessful rebellion. Though the Gandhis, especially Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, brokered peace between the two camps, the episode cost Mr. Pilot his positions in the government and the party.
Affable and accessible
Viewed as an affable and accessible politician, Mr. Gehlot, over the years, managed to grow out of the shadows of leaders like Sis Ram Ola, Nawal Kishore Sharma, Shiv Charan Mathur and Parasram Maderna. The soft-spoken politician is also known for his organisational abilities. As the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, who handled the Gujarat elections, he is credited with the party’s impressive performance that had taken the Congress’ tally to 77 and brought the BJP’s to 99, giving the ruling party a scare.
Originally handpicked by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after taking note of his work as a volunteer to serve the refugees from Bangladesh in 1971, Mr. Gehlot was drafted into the party’s student wing, the National Students’ Union of India, in Rajasthan. His first electoral contest for a seat in the Assembly in 1977 was unsuccessful. But he bounced back by winning the Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat in 1980, and became a Minister in the Union Government in 1984.
Though he lost the next Lok Sabha poll in 1989, he went on to become a Minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao government by winning the Jodhpur seat in 1991. Mr. Gehlot also headed the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) in Rajasthan between 1985 and 1989; and again from 1994 to 1999. He was made the Rajasthan Chief Minister in 1998, in his late 40s, and entered the Assembly by winning a byelection. Since then, Mr. Gehlot has served the State two more terms as the Chief Minister.
“He is a 24x7 politician whose day starts at 7 a.m. in the morning and can go on well past midnight,” says journalist Govind Chaturvedi, who worked as Mr. Gehlot’s media adviser in his first term. To dispel the notion, held in some quarters that Mr. Gehlot is not a firm administrator, Mr. Chaturvedi recounts an incident from 2002 when the Rajasthan Government, under court instructions, had cleared encroachments from the famed Walled City market of Jaipur. “Bureaucrats advised him not to do it but he told them that he has to face an election and not them. He will call the Army if required but will carry out the court orders,” he recalled.
“Gehlot ji’s greatest strength is his ability to make people comfortable. Workers go back with the feeling woh toh hamare jaise hain [He is like one of us],” Mr. Chaturvedi adds.
This is, perhaps, the reason why people found it uncharacteristic of Mr. Gehlot to use words like “ nakara“ and “ nikamma” [useless and worthless] for Mr. Pilot after the latter revolted. A few critics, who didn’t wish to be named, told The Hindu that he is prone to a “coterie culture” and that, at times, influences decision-making. He is also not viewed as a crowd-puller or a vote catcher with impressive oratorical skills. “Once he writes off someone from his book, he doesn’t easily change. And that’s not the best thing in politics,” says a critic.
That there was a debate around “one man one post” after his name came up for the presidential polls, critics argue, goes against the perception of Mr. Gehlot being a Gandhian, who always presents Gandhi diaries to people every new year. “He could have handled the Pilot episode much better. After all, he himself became CM in his 40s. He could have been a little more magnanimous,” says the person quoted above.
Uncertainty over leadership
Dr. Naresh Dadich, former Vice Chancellor of Kota Open University, argues that even now, the Congress is losing the perception battle as there’s uncertainty over the chief ministership. “If the party wants to make Pilot as the next CM, it should do now and end the uncertainty.”
If Mr. Gehlot is elected the next party chief and Mr. Pilot succeeds him as Chief Minister, both leaders will have to press the reset button to set their equations right.
