AICC appoints Ashok Gehlot as senior observer for upcoming 2022 Gujarat assembly polls

|HT|

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was on Wednesday appointed as the senior observer for the upcoming 2022 Gujarat assembly polls by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). He was incharge of the 2017 Gujarat polls too.

Several Congress leaders feel his appointment will boost the party’s chances in the polls but others remain sceptical given there is only around three months left for the polls to take place.

Not just Gehlot, but the party incharge of Gujarat is also from Rajasthan.

MLA Raghu Sharma, who was released from the cabinet post and given the organisational responsibility eight months back. AICC has given additional responsibilities to 13 ministers and MLAs in Rajasthan.

A senior Congress leader familiar with the development said the reason for Gehlot’s appointment is to emulate the decent show Congress put in the 2017 polls and try to better their tally this time around. BJP has been in power in Gujarat for the past 27 years.

In 2017, out of the total 182 seats, BJP was claiming to win 150 seats but had to eventually settle for less than 100 while Congress got 77 seats.

In 2012, BJP had won 116 while Congress won 60.

“Gehlot’s political acumen and strategies are known across the country, and no other could counter Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, especially at their home turf. The CM even hit the streets and distributed party pamphlets in the last polls,” the senior party leader said.

Despite a tough fight in the state, Congress has, however, failed to maintain its success.

Congress has lost at least 14 MLAs in the past two years, who crossed over to the BJP.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)