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He revealed that he had cautioned Gehlot multiple times, but the Chief Minister dismissed advice and honest assessments.
NEW DELHI: The results of the Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023 have left the Congress party in disarray, the blame of which has been placed on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s refusal to embrace change, according to Gehlot’s Officer on Special duty, Lokesh Sharma.
He said that the defeat is not a collective failure but a consequence of the CM’s steadfast refusal to embrace change. Sharma minced no words in attributing the loss to “deceptive tactics, a lack of genuine feedback, and an overall culture of arrogance within the party”.
#ElectionResults : Explosive revelations in Rajasthan as CM Ashok Gehlot’s OSD Lokesh Sharma exposes a lack of response to feedback or criticism.
The rift widens within the party as Sharma discloses that Gehlot has brought the party to the margins having been unable to bring it… pic.twitter.com/qh3YhHHRhQ
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) December 3, 2023
Sharma expressed his disappointment, stating, “The public changed the rule but not the tradition.यह कांग्रेस की नहीं बल्कि अशोक गहलोत जी की शिकस्त है। (The responsibility for the defeat lies with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.)” He highlighted the party’s missed opportunity to break away from its traditional approach in Rajasthan, placing the blame squarely on Gehlot’s shoulders.
The OSD went on to critique Gehlot’s leadership style, describing a pattern of consistently making wrong decisions, ignoring feedback, and surrounding himself with immature and self-serving individuals. He lamented Gehlot’s reluctance to consider alternatives and the Chief Minister’s tendency to stick to his preferences, even when faced with clear defeats in surveys.
He revealed that he had cautioned Gehlot multiple times, but the Chief Minister dismissed advice and honest assessments. “Today’s results were inevitable. I had informed the CM well in advance and had cautioned him several times. However, he did not want any advice or anyone who would tell the truth,” Sharma stated.
The OSD provided insight into his extensive efforts to gauge the ground reality, traveling across towns, villages, and hamlets in Rajasthan.
“मैं छः महीने लगातार घूम-घूम कर राजस्थान के कस्बों-गांव-ढाणी में गया, लोगों से मिला, हजारों युवाओं के साथ संवाद कार्यक्रम आयोजित किये, लगभग 127 विधानसभा क्षेत्रों को कवर करते हुए ग्राउंड रिपोर्ट सीएम को लाकर दी (I traveled continuously for six months, went to the towns-villages-dhanis of Rajasthan, met people, organized dialogue programs with thousands of youth, covered about 127 assembly constituencies and brought ground reports to the CM, without knowing the ground reality.)”
Despite these efforts, Gehlot’s decisions, according to Sharma, were marked by a disregard for ground realities and an unwillingness to take corrective steps.
लोकतंत्र में जनता ही माई-बाप है और जनादेश शिरोधार्य है, विनम्रता से स्वीकार है।
मैं नतीजों से आहत जरूर हूँ, लेकिन अचंभित नहीं हूँ..
कांग्रेस पार्टी #Rajasthan में निःसंदेह रिवाज़ बदल सकती थी लेकिन अशोक गहलोत जी कभी कोई बदलाव नहीं चाहते थे। यह कांग्रेस की नहीं बल्कि अशोक गहलोत जी…— Lokesh Sharma (@_lokeshsharma) December 3, 2023
The OSD revealed that he had personally expressed his desire to contest elections, willing to initiate a new experiment in constituencies like Bikaner and Bhilwara, a seat the party had been losing for two decades. However, Gehlot’s resistance to embracing change prevailed, stifling the possibility of introducing fresh faces and strategies that might have resonated with voters.
“I myself had expressed my desire to contest the elections, first from Bikaner and then on the request of the CM from Bhilwara, the seat where we were losing for 20 years, but he could not do a new experiment,” lamented Sharma, shedding light on the missed opportunity for innovation within the party.
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Further highlighting the flawed decision-making process, Sharma pointed out his earlier prediction regarding BD Kalla, stating, “I had told 6 months ago that he would lose the election by more than 20 thousand votes, and the same happened.”
These revelations raise questions about Gehlot’s ability to assess the political landscape accurately and make informed choices that resonate with the electorate.
