Détente over, Sachin Pilot back on the road, Ashok Gehlot again in his sights

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot during a ‘Kisan Sammelan’ in Nagaur. (Photo: Sachin Pilot/ Twitter)

In his public address and even interactions with journalists, Pilot has brought up the familiar point about how the party was reduced to 21 out of 200 seats in 2013 and the hard work that was required to bring it back on track. As the state Congress president, Pilot had led this turnaround. At the first rally in Parbatsar, on Monday, the former Deputy CM’s words indicated that he was not going to relent and targeted the Gehlot government, saying that the big fish behind the recent paper leaks should be arrested instead of small-time middlemen. In response, the CM said on Tuesday, “It is the sargana (kingpin) indeed against whom we have acted. And if leaders tell us more names, we will act against them too.”

His address also indicated how he is still smarting from his unsuccessful rebellion in 2020, saying that “There are many types of leaders in politics … but we have to identify the leader, the public representative jo apni zabaan ka pakka ho (a man of their word), one who doesn’t lie to you.”

At the meeting, Pilot was flanked by Parbatsar MLA Ramniwas Gawriya and Ladnun legislator Mukesh Bhakar, both considered his staunch loyalists.

Following the political crisis in the party in September — when legislators allied to Gehlot boycotted a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to stall any attempt to make Pilot the CM — the party sent show-cause notices to Gehlot loyalists Shanti Dhariwal, Mahesh Joshi, and Dharmendra Rathore. But despite the Pilot camp’s insistence, no action has been taken against the three and leadership issues remain pending. Ahead of the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s entry into Rajasthan in December, the fight between the two camps threatened to spill over in public yet again but the high command stepped in to ensure the march went off smoothly. In November and before the Yatra, the two flanked party leader K C Venugopal and addressed a press conference jointly to imply that all is well.

But, with the central leadership content with maintaining the status quo, Pilot is back trying to reach out to people. The strategy had worked for the Tonk MLA and the Congress in 2017, too, when he undertook a 100-km padayatra in then CM Vasundhara Raje’s backyard Hadauti. While Raje is one of the MLAs from the region (Jhalrapatan), her son Dushyant Singh continues to be the Lok Sabha MP from there (Jhalawar-Baran).

By mobilising his supporters and regular outreach initiatives, Pilot was instrumental in the party’s return to power in 2018. If the Congress remains in power in the coming elections, Pilot will look to make a stronger claim for the top job but Gehlot will still stand in his way.

At present, the CM is handling things and stitching up his electoral plans the way he probably knows best — through administration, at least for now. On Monday and Tuesday, he chaired a Chintan Shivir with his ministers and top bureaucrats but the factional feud cast its shadow on this too. Cabinet Minister Hemaram Choudhary skipped the Chintan Shivir on Monday and spoke at Pilot’s Nagaur rally.

Choudhary, who turns 75 on Wednesday, appeared to make a case for Pilot and said, “Even at 75, if I stay on in politics for a post and don’t give opportunities to others, how far is this justified? The youth have hopes that they will get a chance too. We are in power, we are sitting in the organisation. So we should think it over. If we will not think, then the youths will push us aside and take over. Then what pride will there be? Pride will remain if we give them the chance.”

The six-time MLA from Gudamalani in Barmer district targeted the state government over power shortage. “We cannot say as we are in power but what is the electricity situation? People tell me over the phone that they are not getting electricity. Crops of farmers are getting damaged. Who will make the arrangement for this?”

He said the farmers should have been told that electricity would not be made available. “The farmers sowed the crops. They made the entire expenditure and now they are not getting electricity. For this, the farmers will have to be united,” Choudhary added.