Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday filed his nomination papers from Sardarpura assembly constituency for the November 25 polls.
Before filing the nomination, he took blessings of his sister and other senior members of the family. He was accompanied by his wife Sunita Gehlot and son Vaibhav Gehlot.
The three-time chief minister has represented the constituency four times — 1999-2003, 2008-13, 2013-18, and 2018-23.
Gehlot was elected as the Lok Sabha MP from Jodhpur constituency in the 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12 Lok Sabha. He has also held Minister of State (MoS) positions in the central government under textile, tourism and aviation ministries.
Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s loyal Mahendra Singh Rathore is pitted against Gehlot from this seat. Rathore was the chairman of the Jodhpur Development Authority (JDA) during Raje’s tenure in 2013-18, and was also a key functionary of the BJP’s front organisation ‘Intellectual Cell’.
Talking to media after filing his nomination, Gehlot said people of the state have decided to repeat the Congress government in Rajasthan in the upcoming polls.
He reiterated that earlier Rajasthan was known as a “backward state”. but now it has changed. “Today, Rajasthan has AIIMS, IITs, IIMs and other universities. When I became the chief minister for the first time, there were only six universities and now there are over 100 colleges,” the chief minister added.
Later in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will address a rally at Maharaja Umed Singh Stadium in Jodhpur.