Congress set to begin Rajasthan repair work, Kharge to meet Gehlot and Pilot today

The party had then removed him as Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president. But tension has been simmering since then. The latest flare-up came after Pilot sat on a daylong hunger strike in Jaipur in April demanding action in corruption cases against the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government.

The Congress initially reacted strongly, with All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa issuing a late-night statement saying the fast was against party interests and an anti-party activity, but mellowed down later. Pilot’s fast was seen as an attempt to corner Gehlot. Days later, the central leadership held talks with the former Deputy CM.

The Congress has roped in veteran Kamal Nath to mediate between the two sides. Nath met Pilot and AICC general secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal. But nothing came out of those talks. Gehlot’s statement earlier this month that Raje, his predecessor, helped save his government in 2020 by opposing the BJP’s attempts to bribe MLAs sparked more tension.

Pilot then hit back at Gehlot, saying it appeared that his leader was Raje and not Sonia Gandhi and then undertook a five-day yatra to demand action in corruption cases. The positions of both sides have only hardened since then, with Pilot giving the state government an ultimatum and threatening to launch a statewide agitation if three of his demands were not met and the CM saying that demanding compensation for students who have suffered due to paper leaks is a sign of “mental bankruptcy”.

While there were reports that Pilot would be offered the presidency of Rajasthan Congress again, sources close to him said he was reluctant to return to that position. He was the president of Rajasthan Congress from 2014 to 2020, leading the party to victory in 2018. With Assembly elections just six months away, the high command is not in the mood to replace Gehlot with Pilot, which has been one of the main demands of the young leader. A similar change of guard before the elections backfired for the party in Punjab last year. Some leaders in the party said taking over as state Congress president was beneficial for Pilot, who does not occupy any post now, as he would then have a say in the selection of candidates for the elections.