Tickets Will Be Given Based On Winnability, Performance: Ashok Gehlot

Jaipur:

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said legislators who did development work in their areas cannot be denied a party ticket.

When asked whether a special priority will be given to 102 MLAs who saved the government during the 2020 political crisis in Rajasthan, Mr Gehlot said the winnability of every candidate will be considered when it comes to nomination.

Voting for the Assembly election will be held in Rajasthan on November 25.

“Any work related to any area is due to the legislator only. How can he be made to sit (denied a ticket),” Mr Gehlot told reporters at Jaipur airport before leaving for Delhi.

The chief minister was departing for a Congress Screening Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday. He said the party’s Election Committee meeting has been proposed to be held on Wednesday.

Mr Gehlot accused the BJP and RSS of spreading a “rumour” that Congress legislators committed huge corruption.

“If democracy has to be saved then Congress has to be brought in Rajasthan. This is what I believe. Only Congress can save democracy in the country,” he said.

Mr Gehlot also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he can have the right to ask for votes only if he brings back the Old Pension Scheme, implement an urban-rural development guarantee, social security, and Rs 25 lakh in health insurance at the central level.

He praised his government’s work in the state saying “Such schemes have probably not come anywhere in India.” Mr Gehlot once again targeted the BJP over the political crisis faced by his government in 2020.

“Governments fell in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka but could not be toppled here. Party President Mallikarjun Kharge yesterday gave the credit for this to the people. If the public had been against us, half the MLAs would have left at that time,” he said.

The chief minister made the remark referring to the toppling of the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka in 2019 after chief minister HD Kumaraswamy lost a trust vote. Congress came to power again in the state in 2023 with Siddaramaiah as chief minister.

Mr Gehlot claimed that if his MLAs were moved by greed, they would have accepted the offer of Rs 10 crore in 2020.

“When the Governor fixed the date for summoning the assembly session, their rates increased by 10, 20, 30, 40 crore,” he claimed.

The chief minister again alleged that Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were involved in the conspiracy to topple his government in 2020.

“I don’t know whether the Prime Minister’s blessings were there,” he added.

The chief minister claimed he did far more work for Hindus than BJP when it comes to welfare of cows, such as building of cowsheds, and redevelopment of temples.

“Ask them if they have done the work that we have done for Hindus. How will you ask for votes in the name of Hindutva? Their secret is exposed. Now only ED, Income Tax, CBI is left with them as people are no longer with them,” he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)