My govt will complete its full term & get repeated: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

JAIPUR: Fluttering the dovecotes, chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday suggested he would not only complete the full five-year term but would also head the next Congress government after the 2023 state elections. Gehlot claimed there was no anti-incumbency against his government so far, even though 18 of the past 31 months went fighting corona and elections.
Making a public appearance after a gap of several months since the second Covid wave and undergoing angioplasty in September, 70-year-old Gehlot said he was fully fit now and would be active for the next 15-20 years even if that made some people unhappy.The CM’s remarks were aimed at his rivals both in BJP and Congress.
In BJP, leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria has been claiming that the Gehlot government would be unable to complete its term, while in Congress his former deputy Sachin Pilot has been vying for the CM post.
Speaking at the launch of a special government drive related to solving people’s land ownership problems on the Gandhi Jayanti, Gehlot said, “I will make (Shanti) Dhariwal ji minister of the same department (urban housing and development). I’m declaring his portfolio today itself. He will be the UDH minister for the fourth time.” Gehlot reminded people that Dhariwal has been the UDH minister in all his three terms as the CM.
Gehlot’s statement made at the programme that was watched live across the state implied that he would be the chief minister for the fourth time and would be distributing portfolios once again. The event was held at the chief minister’s residence in the presence of ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats.
Questioning the media for linking ongoing political developments in Punjab with Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the chief minister alleged it was being done to please Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. He claimed the media houses get nightmares about Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax searches and hence target Congress governments. “Entire Gujarat cabinet was changed overnight but the media did not question it,” said Gehlot.
Gehlot attributed his government’s losses in the past—reduced to 56 seats in 2003 and to 21 seats in 2013—to state employees’ strike and Modi wave, respectively. “But this time the public mood is in our favour,” he claimed. Taking potshots at the bureaucracy, Gehlot said, “They are the first to stop work and speculate if the government will survive or fall.”