Express News Service
JAIPUR: As the Congress has galvanized protests over questioning of Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the centre’s Agnipath scheme, one leader is emerging as the figurehead of these protests — Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The frontline role has made Gehlot more visible at the centre stage of national politics of the Congress. Gehlot’s stature has risen in the party in recent years. But it went sky-high as he secured Congress win in three out of four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan recently. This included an embarrassing defeat for BJP-backed media baron Subhash Chandra. After the death of Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel and the formation of the rebel G23 group, Gehlot has emerged as one of the strongest supporters of the Gandhi family.
The three-time chief minister of Rajasthan has worked with three generations of the Gandhi family. He began under Indira Gandhi and then worked as a minister during Rajiv Gandhi’s prime ministership. And over the past two decades, he has been closely linked with the Gandhi family under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and has an easy equation with both Rahul and Priyanka.
Last month, Gehlot was the host and main organiser of the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur which was designed for the Congress brass to chalk out the party’s strategy for the upcoming state elections and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. On Sunday, Gehlot held a major rally in Jaipur to organise Congress cadres and leaders against the Modi government’s Agneepath scheme.
“The Prime Minister should understand the sentiments of the youth and withdraw the scheme. The decision was taken without any debate and in a hurry. It is being opposed across the country,” Gehlot told media at the Amar Jawan Jyoti where the party leaders gathered for the protest.
Taking centre stage in party
Ashok Gehlot’s stature has risen in the party in recent years. But it went sky-high as he secured Congress win in three out of four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan recently. This included an embarrassing defeat for BJP-backed media baron Subhash Chandra
