I was never told why I was denied a ticket to contest the elections.'
Mahesh Joshi, Congress minister in the Rajasthan government and a confidant of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been denied a ticket to contest the assembly elections.
Joshi was elected from the Hawa Mahal constituency in 2018, but has now been replaced by R R Tiwari.
In September 2022 Joshi was one of the three Congress MLAs who were issued a show cause notice after they acted against the directives of the party's central leadership.
Shanti Dhariwal and Dharmendra Rathore were the other two MLAs issued notices for disobeying then Congress working president Sonia Gandhi.
The trio had held a parallel meeting of Congress MLAs in September 2022 when the Congress legislature party meeting was called to choose Gehlot's successor after he was considered for the post of Congress president.
Though it was a ploy by Ashok Gehlot as he did not want the post of Congress president which eventually went to Mallikarjun Kharge, it looks like Joshi has been punished for taking sides with Gehlot.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to Joshi after he was denied a ticket by the Congress party.
You didn't get an election ticket after working so hard for the Congress party. Did it come as a surprise?
When your expectations are not met, you obviously get upset. But then I am always with the Congress party and will be with the Congress party in future too. This was the party's decision not to give me the ticket so I have to abide by the party decision.
Did you feel you were targeted in particular because the other MLA who was also issued a notice, Shanti Dhariwal, was given a ticket?
It is the party which decides who gets the ticket and who does not get.
When I got the ticket I accepted it and when I have not got it I have to accept it. The Congress party's decision is supreme for me.
But you being so close to Ashok Gehlot and still not getting a ticket looks like this decision was taken by Congress leaders in Delhi. Is it so?
There are many decisions in politics that are taken and people like us are not aware of it.
It is just that we are not privy to understand certain things so we accept the decision what is being taken.
And once you are in politics and follow an ideology and a party, then you got to be loyal to it. Therefore, I am with the party and my sole interest is to serve the party. Whether I get a ticket to contest or not is a different matter altogether.
What matters is that I am with the Congress and will be associated with the Congress in the future too.
It is said in political circles that Rahul Gandhi deleted your name from the list of probable Congress candidates who were to contest the election from Rajasthan?
I have no idea about this, so it is better I don't comment about it.
When Ashok Gehlot was told to accept the post of Congress president he refused and you went overboard to support him and this has harmed your political career as you upset the Congress high command in Delhi?
I never asked why I was not given the ticket. Moreover, I was never told by the party or any Congress leader why I was denied a ticket to contest the assembly elections.
I saw my name was not in the list of Congress candidates who were going to contest assembly elections in Rajasthan and I accepted the decision thinking if the party has decided on me not contesting elections, I will accept the decision.
Then there are others who are jumping ship and shifting loyalties in Rajasthan after being denied a ticket. They are angry over not getting a ticket. But you are sounding very cool about yourself not getting ticket.
The person who got the ticket in my place, I went for the opening of his office after he got the ticket and me being denied the ticket. Koi man mitav nahi (there are no ill feelings). I have shown solidarity with him and I want the Congress to win the elections in Rajasthan with big numbers.
You are acting like a loyal soldier of the Congress party, why is it so?
I believe only in two things. One is Bhagwan and second is the Congress party.
Some opinion polls say the Congress is not going to win in Rajasthan.
Those opinion polls are wrong. We are forming the government once again in Rajasthan.
On what grounds is the Congress winning according to you?
It is winning because of the development of the state done by the Ashok Gehlotji government in Rajasthan.
You can go back and check the last budget of Ashok Gehlotji that he presented to the state. It was about bachat, rahat aur vikas (savings, relief and development).
These are the core issues that people face in day to day life and we targeted and addressed them very diligently. This has made the Congress very popular in the state, which makes me confident that the Congress is forming the government in Rajasthan after the elections.
What will be your role in the party now since you have been denied a ticket?
It is not for me to decide as to what role I will play in the party. It is the party that will decide what role I will play in the party.
