Assembly Election 2023: Rajasthan Chief Minister and Senior Congress Leader Ashok Gehlot said on Thursday that he wants to leave the post of CM, but the post is not leaving him. Addressing a press conference ahead of the Rajasthan assembly polls, CM Gehlot said that the first thing Sonia Gandhi did after becoming the Congress President was to make him the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. During the press conference, Gehlot also claimed that he was not the Chief Minister candidate, but Sonia Gandhi chose him.
#WATCH | "After Sonia Gandhi ji became (Congress) president, the first decision she took was to make me the chief minister. I was not the CM candidate but she selected me as the CM...I want to leave the CM post but this post is not leaving me and it won't leave me also," says… pic.twitter.com/LOBvzYSnPL
— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2023
The senior Congress leader also said that there would be something in him that the party high command had chosen him to lead the state thrice but any decision taken by the leadership going forward would be acceptable to all. The Rajasthan CM Gehlot, whose government had faced a rebellion led by his bete noire Sachin Pilot in 2020, said he has adopted the policy of "forgive and forget" and moved on. Pilot and his loyalists had camped together at a hotel on the outskirts of Jaipur and then at a Jaisalmer hotel.
When asked about his differences with Pilot, Gehlot asserted that they are united. “I have said that we are united. When the people went with him (with Sachin Pilot in 2020) and yet their tickets are being cleared, what is more big example I can give. I have not opposed a single ticket. You can sense how much love we have for everyone,” he said.
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He also added that any decision taken by the leadership going forward would be acceptable to all.
Asked whether there were any differences within the party on the grant of party tickets, he said there are no differences and all decisions are taken unanimously.
The Rajasthan CM also strongly opposed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (I-T) raids against the opposition leaders ahead of the Rajasthan Assembly election. He sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to stop the central agencies as the Model Code of Conduct was in force.
The election for the 200-member assembly polls has been rescheduled for November 25, and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.
(With input from agencies)