Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) politician serving as the current

Chief Minister of Rajasthan The chief minister of Rajasthan is the chief executive of the Indian state of Rajasthan. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's '' de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief ...

. He held this position from December 1998 to 2003, and from 2008 to 2013, and again from 17 December 2018. He represents Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur as

Member of Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

. He was a national General secretary of Congress Party, in-charge of organisations and training from March 2018 to 23 January 2019. He was also made in-charge of Gujarat state during 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.

Personal life

Ashok Gehlot is the son of Laxman Singh Gehlot, a magician who used to travel around the country to show his magic tricks. Gehlot cames from humble Sainik Kshatriya Mandorva Rajput family of Marwar, with no connection in politics. He is a science and law graduate, he also holds an MA degree in economics. He is married to Sunita Gehlot and has a son and a daughter. His son Vaibhav Gehlot is a politician who contested in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

elections of 2019 from

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

. He is a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

(INC) party. He was influenced by the teachings of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

at a very young age and was actively engaged in social political work even as a student. During the

East Bengali refugees East Bengali Refugees are people who left East Bengal following the Partition of Bengal (1947), Partition of Bengal, which was part of the Indian independence movement, Independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. An overwhelming majority of these ...

crisis in 1971, he served in the refugee camps in the eastern states of India. It is there when former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

first identified his organizational skills during one of her visits to the refugee camps. Gehlot was later appointed the first State President of

National Students' Union of India The National Students Union of India, the student wing of the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress), was established on 9 April 1971. The organisation was founded by Indira Gandhi after merging the Kerala Students Union and the West Beng ...

and successfully organised Congress's Student Wing in the state. Gehlot is a staunch Gandhiite and he lived in

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bounda ...

to adapt his lifestyle as a Gandhiite. He eats before sunset and is a pure

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

and enjoys Satvik Meals. He is also a

teetotaler Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or i ...

Political career

He contested his first election for

Legislative assembly in 1977 for Sardarpura constituency and lost by a margin of 4426 votes to his closest opponent Madhav Singh of the Janata Party. Gehlot had to sell his motorcycle to contest his first election. In 1980 he contested

election from

and won by a margin of 52,519 votes. In 1984 he was appointed as the

Union Minister The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

. In 1989 he lost the election from

. When the Congress party returned to power in 1991 he was appointed as Union Minister again by then

P.V. Narasimha Rao. He was discharged from his duty in 1993 and headed towards his home state Rajasthan to manage

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

political affairs. In 1998, Congress won a landslide victory by winning 153 out of 200 seats. Ashok Gehlot was appointed as the

for the first time. In 2003, Congress lost Rajasthan and won merely 56 seats. In

2008 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Indian state of Rajasthan on 4 December 2008. Results were announced on 8 December. The incumbent ruling party BJP lost to Congress. Results Party-wise list of elected MLAs Elected Members List o ...

Congress was short of a majority by 4 seats and Gehlot who was a well-known troubleshooter in Congress was appointed as the Chief Minister to prevent instability and thus he was sworn in for the second time as Chief Minister. In 2013, Congress suffered its worst-ever defeat by only winning 21 seats in 200 member assembly. Gehlot was then appointed as AICC

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

in 2013. He remained at the position until 2018 and after 2018 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, when Congress returned to power he was appointed as the Chief Minister for the third time despite the strong candidacy of

Sachin Pilot Sachin Pilot (born 7 September 1977) is an Indian politician of Indian National Congress. Earlier he served as the MoS (Independent charge) Corporate Affairs & MoS Communication & IT, Government of India, Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan a ...

due to his role in the revival of Congress after its worst-ever defeat in Legislative Elections.

was appointed as

Deputy Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. In 2022, it was reported that Sonia Gandhi supports Gehlot leading Congress in the

next Indian general election General elections are expected to be held in India by May 2024 to elect the members of the 18th Lok Sabha. Background The tenure of Lok Sabha is scheduled to end on 16 June 2024. The previous general elections were held in April–May 2019. ...

Positions held

Other positions held

References

External links

*
Interview to rediff.com in 1999
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gehlot, Ashok 1951 births Living people Chief Ministers of Rajasthan Indian National Congress politicians People from Jodhpur Rajasthani people Rajasthani politicians India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 Finance Ministers of Rajasthan Lok Sabha members from Rajasthan Chief ministers from Indian National Congress People named in the Paradise Papers Rajasthan MLAs 2018–2023