Ashok Gehlot
Gehlot in 2023
25th Chief Minister of Rajasthan
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 December 2018
Governor	Kalyan Singh Kalraj Mishra
Deputy	Sachin Pilot (until 14 July 2020)
Preceded by	Vasundhara Raje
Additional ministries Incumbent Assumed office 27 December 2018 Ministry and Departments Finance Taxation Home & Justice DOP GAD Cabinet Secretariat NRI IT & Communication Rajasthan State Investigation Bureau DIPR Preceded by Vasundhara Raje
In office 13 December 2008 (2008-12-13) – 12 December 2013 (2013-12-12)
Preceded by	Vasundhara Raje
Succeeded by	Vasundhara Raje
In office 1 December 1998 (1998-12-01) – 8 December 2003 (2003-12-08)
Preceded by	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
Succeeded by	Vasundhara Raje
Member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 December 1999
Preceded by	Man Singh Deora
Constituency	Sardarpura
General Secretary (Organisation) of AICC
In office December 2017 – January 2019
Succeeded by	K. C. Venugopal
Union Minister of State for Tourism and Civil Aviation
In office 31 December 1984 – 26 September 1985
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi / Rajiv Gandhi
Deputy Union Minister for Sports
In office 7 February 1984 – 31 October 1984
Prime Minister	Indira Gandhi
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Textiles
In office 21 June 1991 – 18 January 1993
Prime Minister	P. V. Narasimha Rao
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1991–1999
Constituency	Jodhpur
In office 1980–1989
Constituency	Jodhpur
Leader of the House in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
Personal details
Born	(1951-05-03) 3 May 1951 (age 72)[1][2] Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India[1]
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Sunita Gehlot
Children	2
Residence(s)	13, Sawai Pratapsingh Rd, Madrampur, Civil Lines, Jaipur
Occupation	Politician

Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the 25th and current Chief Minister of Rajasthan since 2018.^[3] He held this position from December 1998 to 2003, and from 2008 to 2013.^[1] He represents Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur as Member of Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan since 1999. He was a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Jodhpur from 1991 to 1999 and from 1980 to 1989 and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Textile from 1991 to 1993, Tourism and Civil aviation from 1984 to 1984 and Deputy Union minister for Sports from 1984 to 1984. He was also 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 in 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.^[4]

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.^[5] He belongs to Mali caste.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} Gehlot's father served as the president of the Jodhpur Municipal Corporation for two terms, as the vice president for one term and was a mining contractor.^[11] 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.^[1] His son Vaibhav Gehlot is a politician who contested in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 from Jodhpur.^[12]

He is a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) party. He was influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi at a very young age and was actively engaged in social political work even as a student. During the East Bengali refugees crisis in 1971, he served in the refugee camps in the eastern states of India. It is there when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 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 and successfully organised Congress's Student Wing in the state.^[13] Gehlot is a staunch Gandhiite and he lived in Wardha to adapt his lifestyle as a Gandhiite. He eats before sunset and is a pure vegetarian and enjoys Satvik Meals. He is also a teetotaler.^[5]

Political career

He contested his first election for Rajasthan 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 Lok Sabha election from Jodhpur and won by a margin of 52,519 votes. In 1984 he was appointed as the Union Minister. In 1989 he lost the election from Jodhpur.^[14]

When the Congress party returned to power in 1991 he was appointed as Union Minister again by then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. He was discharged from his duty in 1993 and headed towards his home state Rajasthan to manage Congress political affairs. In 1998, Congress won a landslide victory by winning 153 out of 200 seats. Ashok Gehlot was appointed as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan for the first time.^[14]

In 2003, Congress lost Rajasthan and won merely 56 seats. In 2008 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election 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.^[15]

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 in 2013.^[16] He remained at the position till 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 due to his role in the revival of Congress after its worst-ever defeat in Legislative Elections. Sachin Pilot was appointed as Deputy Chief Minister.^[17]

In 2022, it was reported that Sonia Gandhi supports Gehlot leading Congress in the next Indian general election.^[18]

Ashok Gehlot recently announced that he is in favour of conducting a caste census. He announced that a six per cent additional reservation for the most backward castes within the Other Backward Class (OBC) category in the state will be provided. ^[19]

Administrative policies

Right to Health bill

In 2023, Ashok Gehlot's government brought the "Right to Health" bill, which was aimed at providing free medical facilities to all the residents of Rajasthan in every medical establishment in the state. The bill provided that every health establishment, whether public pr private, located in Rajasthan will have to provide health facilities in emergency situation free of cost to patient, who is a resident of Rajasthan. Though hailed as a positive step by many, the bill's provisions were condemned by Indian Medical Association and the private doctors of the state. Many of them took to street against the bill and several concerns were raised upon viability of the scheme. The critics of the bill argued that it will brought the private establishment under tight control of bureaucracy, which will impede their proper functioning. The private medical facilities also protested on the fact that the bill hasn't described that how the private medical facilities will be reimbursed after providing free medical facilities to patients in emergency situation. The bill was also criticised for not defining the term "emergency situation". However, after the talks with the stakeholders, Gehlot's government was able to implement the provisions of bill with certain changes. It was informed by government authorities that the hospitals with less that fifty beds were excluded from enforcement of the provisions and only those private hospitals built with the government’s help or subsidies will have to implement the provisions.^[20][21][22] With the bringing of universal right to health through this bill, Rajasthan became the first state in India to do so.^[23][24]

Jaipur Metro Project

In 2013, Gehlot also inaugurated the Jaipur Metro Project for bringing efficient transport infrastructure in the state of Rajasthan. The phase I-A of the project was laid down from Mansarovar to Chandpole, while the phase I-B was laid between Chandpole to Badi Chaupar.^[25]

Kamdhenu Pashu Bima Yojna

On 12 April 2023, Gehlot launched Kamdhenu Pashu Bima Yojna, an insurance scheme for the milch animals for the resident cattle owners of Rajasthan. Under this scheme, a farmer needs to have at least two milch animal and his annual income shouldn't exceed eight lakh per annum for becoming a beneficiary. The government of Rajasthan also made this scheme available to the farmers having more than eight lacs as annual income, but in that case, they had to pay an annual premium of ₹200. The eligible beneficiaries were required to register for the scheme at their nearest Mehngai Rahat Camp (Inflation relief camps). Gehlot also organised the video conferences to connect directly with the people in order to make them aware of the scheme.^[26] As per provision of this scheme, on the death of milch animal a compensation of ₹40,000 was announced to be provided per animal to the cattle owner as insurance claim. The scheme was made available to two animals per family, taking total benefits to ₹ 80,000.^[27][28] This scheme, like many others were distributed at the instance of Gehlot through 2,500 Inflation relief camps running across the state, aiming to deliver ten flagship scheme of Gehlot's government to people.^[29]

Positions held

Other positions held