In news for a cheating case registered against him by the Nagpur Police, a charge he has denied, Vaibhav Gehlot's political career so far has been under the long shadow of his father, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Vaibhav, 41, who graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor's degree in law from Indian Law Society's Law College in Pune, became politically active in the subsequent years. Ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, his name first started doing the rounds as a possible Congress candidate from Jodhpur, a seat held by his father for five terms. However, the Congress fielded Chandresh Kumari, who went on to win the election. Vaibhav’s career has been marked by allegations of financial fraud. In 2011, the BJP accused the Gehlot government of allegedly awarding contracts worth several crores of rupees to Om Metals and Triton Hotels, which had reportedly hired Vaibhav as their legal consultant. The government denied the charges. 🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️ Then in 2015, a complaint was filed with the Enforcement Directorate (ED), again accusing Vaibhav of financial fraud. The complaint alleged that Triton Hotels, where Vaibhav had been employed since 2009, diverted shares worth Rs 10 for Rs 39,000 to Shivnar Holding, a fictitious firm. The complainants alleged that Ratan Kant Sharma, director of Triton Hotels, was an old friend of Vaibhav’s and that he held the position of director in Vaibhav’s car rental firm Sunlight Car Rental Services Private Limited. Meanwhile, Vaibhav’s political launch finally came through when, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he was pitted against Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Jodhpur. The Gehlot camp had pulled out all stops to push for Vaibhav’s candidature, even projecting his name from multiple Lok Sabha seats, including Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, which has a good number of Gujjar, Mali and minority votes; Jodhpur, Gehlot’s home turf, where he is an MLA from Sardarpura; and Jalore. It was around this time that the differences between Gehlot and Sachin Pilot came out in the open once again, with the then deputy CM saying it would be better if the party didn't choose candidates from among relatives of current and former public representatives. The same evening, on March 5, 2019, the CM said, “Had I wanted to give him (Vaibhav) an opportunity, I would have given it 10 years ago. I have always told him I am the Chief Minister aur woh mere khaate mein nahin aata (it’s not up to me).” Nevertheless, while choosing the candidate for the Jodhpur seat, Vaibhav’s name was said to have been the only one sent to the high command for approval. Yet, Vaibhav lost by over 2.7 lakh votes to Shekhawat, leading to a loss of face for the CM. Following the Congress's rout that election – the Congress failed to win any of the 25 seats – Gehlot was targetted for spending too much time in Jodhpur. At the Congress Working Committee meeting held to discuss the defeat, Rahul Gandhi reportedly referred to Gehlot while talking about leaders who put the interests of their sons above that of the party. However, months later, in October 2019, Vaibhav was elected president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), antagonising former leader of Opposition Rameshwar Dudi, who alleged that his candidature for the RCA post was rejected at the behest of the CM. Dudi attacked the government for “misusing” its authority and for its “dictatorial” attitude and said, “This puts a question mark on the CM.” he had said. Vaibhav’s name again cropped up in mid-2020, at the height of the tussle between the Pilot and Gehlot camps – when the Income Tax Department searched nine offices of two firms – Mayank Sharma Enterprises (MSE) and Om Kothari Group. MSE, which runs the Le Meridien in Jaipur, belongs to the family of Vaibhav's friend Ratan Kant Sharma, who had in March 2011 acquired 50 per cent shares in Vaibhav's Sunlight Car Rentals Private Ltd. Sharma is also the promoter of Triton Hotels and Resorts Private Limited, which runs Fairmont, a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Jaipur which was also raided by the Enforcement Directorate in July 2020. Sources in ED had claimed that Sharma was summoned by the agency a few days before the raid to explain an alleged receipt of Rs 96.7 crore into Triton from Mauritius. According to RoC records, a Mauritius-based company, Sivnar Holding Limited, owns 50 per cent in Triton, while Ratan Kant Sharma and his wife Jui Sharma own the remaining 50 per cent. Fairmont is now known for sequestering Congress MLAs from Rajasthan and other states, whenever there are fears of horse trading or political instability.
