Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1998 to December 2003, then again from 2008 to December 2013, and later from 2018 to December 2023. He represents Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur as Member of Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan since 1998. He was a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Jodhpur from 1991 to 1998 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.
Ashok Gehlot is the son of Laxman Singh Gehlot, a magician who used to travel around the country to show his magic tricks. He belongs to the Mali caste. 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. 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. His son Vaibhav Gehlot is a politician who contested the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 from Jodhpur.
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. 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, thereby making him a teetotaler.
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 the Union Minister. In 1989 he lost the election from Jodhpur.
When the Congress party returned to power in 1991 he was appointed 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 the Chief Minister of Rajasthan for the first time.
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 the Chief Minister to prevent instability and thus he was sworn in for the second time as Chief Minister.
In 2013, Congress suffered its worst-ever defeat by only winning 21 seats in 200 member assembly. Gehlot was then appointed AICC General Secretary in 2013. He remained at the position till 2018 and after 2018 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, when Congress returned to power he was appointed 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 Deputy Chief Minister.
In 2022, it was reported that Sonia Gandhi supports Gehlot leading Congress in the 2024 Indian general election.
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. Varta Broadcasting (Tariq M. Kidwai) helps him to interact with public.
In 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, he once again won from the Sardarpura constituency.
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 or 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 bring 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 than 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. With the bringing of universal right to health through this bill, Rajasthan became the first state in India to do so.
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.
On 12 April 2023, Gehlot launched Kamdhenu Pashu Bima Yojna, an insurance scheme for the dairy animals for the resident cattle owners of Rajasthan. Under this scheme, a farmer needs to have at least two dairy 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. 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. 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.
In 2019, Gehlot chaired a meeting of Rajasthan's home department. The questions that were discussed in this meeting included turning down of the registration of new First Information Reports by the Station House Officers in many instances to keep the crime figure in the state low, apparently. Gehlot announced that in such cases, where a police official in charge has not registered an FIR on the complaint, the complainant can lodge his grievance against the official on a special portal of the government launched for keeping the police officials accountable. The SHO or the officer in charge will have to mandatorily register FIR for all the congnisable offences and if they fail to do so, required action will be taken against them. Gehlot also announced the roadmap to recruit more manpower in the police department and immediate promotion of the constables and other staff that was due for the time. This was done to enhance the pace of investigation and inquiry in the cases which were about to come after the enforcement of mandatory registration of FIR.