Jaipur: Ashok Gehlot, who spearheaded the Congress campaign to reinstall its government defeating BJP in Rajasthan, was chosen to be the new Chief Minister of the state on Thursday, ending three days of intense jockeying for power by various factions including the jat lobby.
Fifty seven-year-old Gehlot, a former chief minister, was unanimously elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party, AICC observer Digvijay Singh, said after intense consultations with MLAs after a CLP meeting authorised Sonia Gandhi to nominate the new leader.
The chief minister-elect told reporters later that he would work to provide an "able, transparent and competent" government that will cater to all the sections, castes and communities of people.
Earlier in the day there were ugly scenes of clash between supporters of Gehlot and Union Minister Sis Ram Ola, a jat, before a state guest house where the AICC observers were staying. The exchanged blows and indulged in fisticuffs before police separated them.
Gehlot, who belongs to the backward 'mali' (gardener) community, is a hard-core organisation man. Between 1974 and 79, he was President of the Rajasthan unit of NSUI and rose seadily as President of Jodhpur Congress Committee and then General Secretary of the PCC. He became the PCC President thrice in 1985, 1994 and 1997.
In 1980, he was elected to Lok Sabha for the first time from Jodhpur and reelected four more times. He became a Union Deputy Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Indira Gandhi's ministry in 1982. After the 1984 elections, he became the Minister of State for Civil Aviation when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.
Gehlot held independent charge of the Textiles ministry in the P V Narasimha Rao government from 1991.
He has been a member of various Parliamentary committees including that of Public Accounts Committee.
In the recent Assembly elections, he won from Sadarpura constituency.
His supporters say that Gehlot remains a man of good intentions, who retained the common touch and did not not lose contact with the people despite walking the corridors of power in Delhi.
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