New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said he wants to leave the post of Rajasthan's chief minister but it is not leaving him and probably may not leave him in future too, the remarks coming amid a longrunning power tussle between him and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Gehlot asserted there must be something in him that the party high command chose him thrice to lead the state.

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However, he insisted, any decision on the top post in the state will be taken by the leadership going forward and would be acceptable to all.

In the Congress party, he said, those whose names are floated for the chief ministership never become one.

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Gehlot also said his bete noire and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje should not be punished by the BJP because he credited her with saving his government during a rebellion by Congress MLAs in 2020. It would be "injustice" to her, he said.

On the 2020 revolt led by Sachin Pilot, Gehlot said he has adopted the policy of "forgive and forget" and has moved on. The senior leader asserted he has not opposed giving tickets to Pilot's supporters for the November 25 assembly polls.

"After Sonia Gandhi became (Congress) president, the first decision she took was to make Ashok Gehlot the chief minister. She took this decision after giving it a lot of thought. I was not the CM candidate and in the Congress it is good not to be the CM candidate as the one whose name does the rounds never becomes the CM," he said.

He said the party lost the elections after his five years in office, but he was made chief minister two more times when opportunities came.

Recalling that a woman beneficiary of his government's Rs 25-lakh health insurance scheme told him that she wants him to become the chief minister for a fourth time, he said, "I told her that I want to leave the chief minister's post but this post is not leaving me."

"How many chief ministers in the country have the courage to say that they want to leave the post but the post is not leaving them. Even today, I am saying it, I want to leave this post but the post is not leaving me, and probably may not leave me in future," he asserted.

Stressing he made the "post-is-not-leaving-me" remark in a lighter vein, Gehlot said the high command had shown a lot of confidence in him and there may be some reasons that the Gandhi family, which has kept the Congress united, chose him to be the chief minister thrice.

Gehlot said Rahul Gandhi is the only leader fighting Narendra Modi and hence it is the duty of all to strengthen his hands to save the country instead of talking about any post. "That is my priority. If the party takes any decision that is acceptable to all of us."

Asked about speculation of differences within the party over the grant of tickets, Gehlot said, "There are no differences whatsoever. All decisions are taken with unanimity."

"The opposition (BJP) is upset as to why there are no fights happening in our ranks. You must be pointing towards Sachin Pilot. All the decisions are being made after taking into account everyone's opinion. I am participant to the decisions taken in favour of Sachin Pilot's supporters. So, decisions are being taken smoothly, that's why only the BJP would be feeling the pain," the chief minister said.

When persisted with the ticket question, Gehlot said that in the midst of the rebellion, "we (Congress leaders and MLAs) had stayed in a hotel for 40 days and all the differences were resolved with the high command's intervention."

"When I had come out of the hotel, my first statement was 'forgive and forget'. We will work with that sentiment," he said, adding the past bitterness is forgotten.

"We want to fight the polls unitedly," he said, asserting winability was the only criterion for granting tickets.

"We are all united. The people who had gone with him (Pilot), their tickets have mostly been cleared. What bigger example can there be? I have not even objected on one ticket, so you can imagine the love between us," he said.

Asked about Vasundhara Raje being allegedly sidelined in the BJP, Gehlot said it was an internal matter of her party and he would not like to comment on it.

"But I would like to state that she should not be punished because of me. This would be injustice to her," Gehlot said.

The BJP veteran and former CM Vasundhara Raje fell in the eye of storm recently when Gehlot said at a Dholpur rally that she had helped save his government.

Taking about Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax raids against opposition leaders, he said the model code of conduct was in force and the prime minister should intervene to stop central agencies.

He also urged the Election Commission to intervene in the matter.

Asked when the party would declare its candidates as the BJP has already issued its first list of candidates for the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Gehlot did not give an answer.

Rajasthan polls would take place on November 25 and votes would be counted on December 3.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)