Pilot meets Rahul, discusses situation in Rajasthan

Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and discussed the political situation in Rajasthan. While both the sides remained tight-lipped about the meeting, it revived the predictable talk of a possible change of guard in Rajasthan and has raised the hopes of Pilot supporters.

The Congress leadership had been holding meetings with states where Assembly elections are due in the next couple of years. And Rajasthan is key as the state — along with Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — goes to Assembly polls in December next year, just months before Lok Sabha elections. Winning the state is hence important for the Congress.

The party could not win even a single seat in Rajasthan in the last Lok Sabha polls despite winning the state elections just months before in December 2018. Some of the leaders in the party had been claiming that the Gandhis had informally assured Pilot of a change of guard in Rajasthan at least a year before the Assembly elections.