Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said that he wants to leave the position of Rajasthan’s chief minister, but the post is not letting go of him, PTI reported.

Speaking at the All India Congress Committee headquarters, Gehlot said that “there must be something in him” for the party high command to have chosen him to lead Rajasthan thrice. However, he said that any decision by the party’s high command going forward will be accepted by all.

Gehlot said a woman supporter once told him that she wants him to become the state’s chief minister for the fourth time. “I told her [Congress leader Sonia Gandhi] that I want to give up the chief minister’s post, but this post is not letting me go,” NDTV quoted Gehlot as saying.

The Assembly elections in Rajasthan will be held on November 25. Votes will be counted on December 3.

Responding to a question about the delay in Congress releasing its list of candidates, Gehlot said that only the rival Bharatiya Janata Party was fretting over it.

“The Opposition [BJP] is upset as to why there are no fights happening in our ranks,” said the Rajasthan chief minister. “You must be pointing towards Sachin Pilot. All the decisions are being made after taking into account everyone’s opinion. I am a participant in the decisions taken in favour of Sachin Pilot’s supporters.”

Gehlot asserted that the Congress will fight the Assembly elections with unity. “The people who had gone with him [Pilot], their tickets have mostly been cleared,” said Gehlot. “What bigger example can there be? I have not even objected [to] one ticket, so you can imagine the love between us.”

The Congress’ Rajasthan unit had been rattled by the pitched battle between Gehlot and Pilot since July 2020, when a group of 19 MLAs led by the latter had demanded that he be made the chief minister.

Pilot was then removed as the deputy chief minister and from the post of the state Congress president.

On May 19, supporters of both leaders got into a fistfight in Ajmer during a feedback meeting.

However, on May 29, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said that Gehlot and Pilot have left all problems among them to be resolved by the party’s high command. He said that they had agreed to present a united front in the state polls.