Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, will contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Jalore seat. This is Vaibhav Gehlot’s second attempt to get elected to the Lok Sabha. In 2019, he contested from the Jodhpur seat and lost to BJP’s Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. This time, Mr Gehlot will be up against BJP’s Lumbaram Chaudhary.
Rajasthan remains a tough challenge for Congress, the party did not win a single seat in the state in the 2014 and the 2019 general elections.
Here are some facts about Vaibhav Gehlot:
1) Vaibhav Gehlot was born on June 2, 1980, to Ashok Gehlot and Sunita Gehlot. He studied Law at the ILS Law College, University of Pune, in 2003.
2) Before entering politics, Vaibhav Gehlot was in the car rental business and consultancy. In 2005, he married Himanshi Gehlot, a businesswoman.
3) Apart from politics, Mr Gehlot takes a keen interest in cricket as well. He was elected president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) for the second consecutive term in 2022. In February 2024, months after BJP wrested power from Congress in the state, he resigned from his position as RCA boss alleging he was being deliberately targeted.
4) In 2023, Vaibhav Gehlot appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Jaipur for questioning in a foreign exchange violation case. The case is related to last year’s ED raids against Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., Vardha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and its directors and promoters Shiv Shankar Sharma and Rattan Kant Sharma. The central agency questioned Vaibhav Gehlot on his alleged links with Rattan Kant Sharma. Vaibhav Gehlot and his father Ashok Gehlot have denied any wrongdoing.
5) After Vaibhav Gehlot lost the Jodhpur seat by over 2.5 lakh votes in 2019 elections to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ashok Gehlot blamed Sachin Pilot for the loss and said he should take the responsibility for the drubbing. Mr Pilot said the Congress leadership fielded Vaibhav Gehlot in the 2019 election on his insistence.
