Veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot’s remarks claiming that a “conspiracy” was being hatched to topple Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma created a flutter in Rajasthan’s political circles on Wednesday (June 25, 2025) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders reacted sharply and advised Mr. Gehlot to pay attention to the leadership crisis in his own party.

Mr. Gehlot said while talking to journalist during his visit to Jodhpur that the BJP members, both in Rajasthan and in Delhi, were engaged in the task of dislodging Mr. Sharma, but the latter was “acting ignorant”, for which he would suffer. “A massive conspiracy is underway. We are saying this repeatedly… But he [Mr. Sharma] is not cautious about it,” he said.

Showing concern for Mr. Sharma, Mr. Gehlot, the former Chief Minister, said, “He is a young first-time MLA appointed as the CM. It is a big deal. We believe he should be given a fair chance and allowed to maintain his position. Where is the need for changing the CM?” The people within the BJP were trying to pull Mr. Sharma down, he said.

Mr. Sharma, the first-time MLA from Sanganer, was appointed the Chief Minister after his name was announced at the BJP legislature party meeting held here after the party’s victory in the 2023 State Assembly election. Mr. Sharma claimed earlier this week that the BJP’s one-and-a-half years of governance had outperformed the five-year tenure of Congress.

Mr. Gehlot warned the Chief Minister about “flatterers who have laid siege around him” and were constantly praising him by terming his government great. “The reality is that the situation in Rajasthan is grave and the people are suffering. We raise the issues based on public sentiments, but if the CM remains in delusion, it is going to cause him trouble,” he said.

Commenting on the BJP’s observance of 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Mr. Gehlot said the Emergency was imposed in some “special circumstances”, but its result went against the Congress. “We accepted that the people had turned against us, but the Congress won with a thumping majority under the wave of Indira Gandhi [in 1980],” he said.

The BJP leaders said Mr. Gehlot was making an attempt to create confusion by his claim without any basis. Deputy CM Diya Kumari, Industries Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State for Energy Heeralal Nagar and Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari criticised Mr. Gehlot’s remarks and said he himself had faced rebellion in 2020 during his tenure.