Gehlot: Seat hurdle

Jaipur, Dec. 9: Ashok Gehlot is the Congress’s man of the moment in Rajasthan, but a shadow has been cast on whether he will get the top job for a second term.

The Jats, who shifted allegiance from the BJP to the Congress this time, have demanded that a member of the community be made the chief minister.

Gehlot was perceived to be anti-Jat during his stint in 1998-2003, which, analysts said, was one reason the Congress badly lost last time. The Jats, who belong to the Other Backward Classes, comprise almost 11 per cent of the population in Rajasthan and are a powerful electoral force.

Gehlot, who belongs to the OBC Mali community from Jodhpur, has emerged the prime contender for the post following his successful campaign in the state, though political observers believe the BJP was ousted more because of the unpopularity of chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

What strengthened his case was the victory in Delhi. Gehlot, as Congress general secretary, was in charge of Delhi and Sonia Gandhi is said to be happy with his work on ticket distribution.

Adding to the 57-year-old leader’s resume was his clean image during his previous stint as chief minister, and also his proximity to the Gandhi family. Sources said his ties with the family went back to the time when Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka were children and Gehlot would enthral them with a few magic tricks and tips, being the son of a magician himself.

But the Jat lobby is not too keen on Gehlot. Sources said Union mines minister Sis Ram Ola met Sonia yesterday and requested her to award the top job to a Jat. However, Ola himself referred to the visit as a routine courtesy call.

The Congress has despatched two central observers, Digvijay Singh and Madhusudan Mistry, to oversee a meeting of the newly elected MLAs in Jaipur on Thursday.

The observers will solicit the MLAs’ views on who should be the chief minister and convey these to Sonia. The consultations are expected to take place on Friday.

Sources said the Congress could not overlook the fact that it was Gehlot who worked “on the ground” for the past year or so and recharged an organisation that was lying unused after the 2003 debacle. But because of the Jat opposition and the threat of a caste “revolt” before the Lok Sabha poll, the leaders may have to “think a little”, they said.

The party is toying with the idea of having a Jat as a deputy chief minister.