Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has warned his successor, Bhajan Lal Sharma, about an alleged internal conspiracy within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to unseat him.
The senior Congress leader made this remark during an interaction with the media on Wednesday in response to a statement by Chief Minister Sharma, who had recently lauded his government’s achievements.
Sharma claimed that the developmental work done during his one-and-a-half-year tenure surpasses that of the previous Congress-led government’s five-year term.
Reacting to this, Gehlot said, “It is commendable that the Chief Minister has the courage to praise his own government’s achievements. However, he should not assume that everything is going well and there is no discontent or criticism regarding the government’s functioning.”
He added, “As the Opposition, we also receive ground-level feedback. The Chief Minister should not think that our criticism is merely for the sake of criticism. He must not be carried away by a sense of ‘feel-good’.”
Gehlot further claimed that several individuals within Sharma’s own party are working behind the scenes to remove him. “A serious conspiracy is being hatched against him both in New Delhi and Rajasthan. He does not seem to realise this, but we are trying to convey this reality to him,” Gehlot said.
“We want to tell him that as a young and first-time MLA who has been given a big responsibility, he should rise to the occasion, prove himself through performance, and sustain his position on merit,” he added.
Gehlot also expressed disappointment over the discontinuation of various welfare schemes and programmes initiated during his government’s tenure (December 2018 to December 2023).