After election day in Rajasthan, all eyes are on Gehlot's political future

Jaipur, Nov 26 (IANS) With Rajasthan's voters having exercised their franchise on Saturday, the streets are silent all over again. The corridors of politics and power, however, are abuzz with whispers regarding the fate of CM Ashok Gehlot.

Will be become CM for the fourth time if he wins? And if he loses, is it curtains for his political career?

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 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 said 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.

Blunders have been made in this election. 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. An election is the art of management. But the Congress failed to manage it in Rajasthan and hence these consequences, Bhandari said adding, "There is yet another issue and that is that a young leadership has not been groomed under Gehlot which has posed a challenge here.”

However, he said that Gehlot will contribute to the All India Congress Committee in a senior position and his experience will benefit the party nationally.