Piloting causes

A life cut brutally short is always a tragedy, but Rajesh Pilot's sudden departure leaves a particularly gaping void not just in his flail...

A life cut brutally short is always a tragedy, but Rajesh Pilot8217;s sudden departure leaves a particularly gaping void not just in his flailing Congress party, but also in Indian political life. In this nation of far too many, young leaders possessed with dynamism, vision and commitment are a woefully precious commodity. It is ample proof that Pilot could boast of all three qualities in some measure that heartfelt condolences are emanating from right across the political as well as public spectrums. This, therefore, is the right moment to both assess a man snatched away by an entirely avoidable accident and hazard the effect his absence could have on so many of his abiding causes.

Pilot8217;s greatest strength was perhaps his ability to reach out to huge chunks of the population without taking easy recourse to populism. This he did by attempting to come to grips with local dynamics 8212; whether it be quotidian travails in his constituency, Dausa, or the roots of alienation driving sections of the youth towards insurgency 8212; and forge consensus on issues of national interest. So it was that he played a key role in the Northeast not just when his party was in power at the Centre, but also after he had been dislodged from the treasury benches in Parliament.

One may not have agreed with the specifics of many of his prescriptions, many a colleague may have felt personally threatened by his exertions, but the intent was never in doubt. It was a quality that stood out over the last four years; as his party colleagues struggled to acclimatise themselves to the wilderness years in opposition, he was one of the few Congressmen who seemed to comprehend the value of constructive opposition.

Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha acknowledged it as such when he singled Pilot out for mention in his Budget speech while announcing an insurance scheme for farmers a longstanding demand of the former air force pilot never quite met during the Congress8217;s stint in office in the nineties. And in a society that thrives on emulation, he strove hard to make a social statement by thoroughly pruning the invitation list to his daughter8217;s wedding.

In the end, however, it may have been an attribute that stymied his own rise within his party. Pilot8217;s faith in consensus, in painstakingly arguing out issues of conflict with media persons at his hugely popular kisan lunches and at regular tete-a-tetes, with Congressmen within party fora, with political opponents 8212; ultimately held him back from initiating a leadership challenge. Sadly, with Congress leaders he could never quite strike the sort of rapport he had established with so many others from different walks of life; as a result, he may have been perceived to be the only alternative to a succession of Congress chiefs, but he never really mustered the requisite support to take his oft-stated aspirations to their logical conclusion.

Of late he may have started to speak out against the current Congress paradigm, but for a rebel, he took far too many pauses. While this unfulfilled dream hinted at the Congress8217;s inability to manage dissent and benefit from a diversity of views, today Pilot8217;s death hasonly made the party8217;s crisis of leadership that much more acute.