Lok Sabha Elections 2024: 5 Facts About Vaibhav Gehlot, Congress Candidate from Jallore, Rajasthan

Vaibhav Gehlot, son of former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Jallore seat. This is Vaibhav Gehlot’s second attempt to be elected to the Lok Sabha. In 2019, he contested for the Jodhpur seat and lost to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat of the Bharatiya Janata Party. This time, Mr Gehlot will face the BJP’s Lumbaram Chaudhary.

Rajasthan remains a tough challenge for the Congress, with the party not winning a single seat in the state in the 2014 and 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. In 2003, he studied law at ILS Law School, University of Pune.

2) Before entering politics, Vaibhav Gehlot was in the car rental business and consulting business. In 2005, he married businesswoman Himanshi Gehlot.

3) Apart from politics, Mr. Gehlot is also interested in cricket. In 2022, he was elected president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) for the second consecutive term. In February 2024, months after the BJP seized power from the Congress in the state, he resigned as RCA president, claiming that he had been deliberately targeted.

4) In 2023, Vaibhav Gehlot was questioned at the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jaipur, in connection with a foreign exchange violation case. The case is related to the ED raid last year on Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., Vardha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and its directors and promoters Shiv Shankar Sharma and Rattan Kant Sharma. The central agency has inquired about Vaibhav Gehlot’s alleged links with Rattan Kant Sharma. Vaibhav Gehlot and his father Ashok Gehlot deny any wrongdoing.

5) After Vaibhav Gehlot lost the Jodhpur seat to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in the 2019 elections by over 2.5 lakh votes, Ashok Gehlot blamed Sachin Pilot for the loss and said he should take responsibility for the drubbing. Mr. Pilot said that on Vaibhav Gehlot’s insistence, the Congress leadership sent him to contest the 2019 elections.