Gehlot in Jaipur on Thursday. (PTI)

Jaipur, Dec. 11: Ashok Gehlot today emerged the chosen one to head the Rajasthan government ahead of three contenders, but not before public fisticuffs underlined caste divisions in the party.

Central observer Digvijay Singh made the formal announcement today, saying the opinion of all 96 Congress MLAs had been taken into account and the decision conveyed to party chief Sonia Gandhi.

He said nothing had been decided yet on appointing two deputy chief ministers, and a decision was possible only after the legislature party leader and the chief minister met Sonia.

At the formal announcement, Digvijay was accompanied by state Congress boss C.P. Joshi, who was one of the contenders along with Jat leader Sis Ram Ola and National Commission for Women chairperson Girija Vyas. But all three were left behind in the race after 82 MLAs, sources said, backed Gehlot.

In his first statement after the formal announcement, Gehlot, known for his clean personal image, said his priority would be to provide a corruption-free and transparent government.

The 57-year-old Other Backward Class leader would have had a smooth run but for the strong Jat lobby, which had scuppered his chances last time saying he was “anti-Jat”.

Union mines minister Ola had met Sonia on Monday amid hints from the caste group that the Congress might have to suffer in the coming Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan if a Jat wasn’t made chief minister. Ola, however, claimed it was a routine courtesy call.

Before the formal announcement, sources had suggested Rajasthan might become the first among the larger states to have two deputy chief ministers, a situation particularly surprising for a one-party government.

One of the two deputies would be a Jat and the other a Meena, the sources had said.

Today, ahead of the Congress legislature party meeting, about 100 supporters each of Gehlot and Ola gathered at Khasa Kothi hotel where central AICC observers Digvijay, Madhusudan Mistri, Vivek Bansal, Virendra Singh and Mukul Wasnik were holding talks.

Each group shouted slogans in favour of its leader before some of the younger men got into a brawl.

Gehlot was, however, always the front-runner. The son of a magician, whose ties with the Gandhi family go back many years, had addressed some 100 rallies in the run-up to the elections while plotting another win as the party’s general secretary in charge of the Delhi polls.

But Gehlot, known as a tough ruler, will have to tread carefully, balancing the various caste lobbies. Congress sources said the party would not want to take any chances to annoy other communities just before the Lok Sabha elections.