Candidates for elections shouldn't be selected by guess work: Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said candidates for elections should be selected on the basis of merit and not on ''guess work'' by senior leaders in Delhi. Addressing Congress workers during a training camp, he urged them to stand with the party in the time of crisis. Recalling the days when he was in the NSUI, Gehlot said there was a time when party convention used to go on all day and leaders used to listen to young workers. He said through this practice, qualities of workers used to be judged. But today, when elections come, candidates rush to Delhi for tickets and senior leaders just guess who is competent and who is not, Gehlot said. 

''This is not right. A person should come forward on merit, decisions should be made on merit,'' he said. Gehlot underlined the importance of party workers, saying the work they can do or the message he can convey, it cannot be done even after spending crores of rupees on advertisements. 

Referring to his experience, Gehlot said he is about to complete 50 years in politics, during which he became the chief minister thrice and has been a union minister and state Congress chief thrice. He described it as the investment of the party high command in him and said he owes it to the party and at this time of crisis, it is for him, other leaders and workers to stand with the party. ''The phase that the party is going through today, whether it is you or me, everyone's role may be different, but the duty of us all is how do we stand firmly with the party in this hour of crisis,'' he said. Gehlot also claimed that this is for the first time that even after staying in power for three years, there is no anti-incumbency against the state government. Terming it a ''great achievement'', he said it was because of the works done by the government, be it the coronavirus management or providing relief to people through welfare schemes. 

The chief minister called upon the party workers to strengthen the party at block level. He assured them that a system will be developed under which they will be able to meet him and other ministers. He also asked the party workers to pass proposals and resolutions in meetings and forward them to the state government so that their demands could be addressed through budgetary announcements. He also lashed out at the BJP and the RSS, saying they targeted the Congress high command, thinking that it will collapse the party. The Congress is a disciplined party and its leaders follow directions of the party high command, he said. Earlier, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra said party workers and leaders should not run after posts. He said a leader is valued when he works for the party and people in his area. 

The three-day training camp will culminate on December 28. 

Around 350 workers from across the state are participating in the camp at Bada Padampura near here.