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Journalism of Courage
Defying the Congress leadership which had warned him that his decision to stage a public protest would be treated as an “anti-party activity”, Rajasthan party leader Sachin Pilot sat on a five-hour symbolic hunger strike in Jaipur Tuesday, demanding action in alleged corruption cases against the previous Vasundhara Raje government – a political move aimed at targeting the state government led by his party rival Ashok Gehlot.
The party central leadership, which had taken a stern view Monday on Pilot’s decision to stage a protest, remained silent Tuesday.
Surprised by the statement issued by Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, many leaders, sources said, have told the leadership not to embark on a collision course with Pilot, especially when Rajasthan Assembly elections are due later this year. The leadership, sources said, has decided to hear Pilot’s side of the story before making its next move.
After the sit-in, Pilot left for Delhi. Sources said talks with the leadership are a possibility. Gehlot, who has been silent all along, has called a press conference Wednesday.
On his part, Pilot played cautiously and framed his protest in the context of the Congress’s fight against the BJP over the issue of corruption. He referred to the Congress’s campaign against the Modi government on the Adani issue, and the party’s “40 per cent commission” line of attack against the BJP government in Karnataka.
Randhawa told The Indian Express that Pilot had not made any anti-party remark on which he could give an immediate reaction. “Tell me what wrong thing he has said,” he said. In a late night statement Monday, Randhawa had said: “Sachin Pilot’s day-long fast tomorrow is against party interests and is (an) anti-party activity. If there is any issue with his own government, it can be discussed in the party forums instead of in the media and public.”
The change of mood in the Congress leadership became clear Tuesday evening when the party decided against issuing a statement after announcing that it would do so.
Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and organisation general secretary K C Venugopal, who were in Wayanad, will be back in Delhi Wednesday. It is not clear whether the central leadership’s toning down was at the instance of the Gandhis.
Pilot’s protest in Jaipur did not turn out to be a show of strength as none of the MLAs loyal to him joined the public protest. Sources said this was mainly for two reasons. First, the MLAs joining would have seemed more like a full-fledged rebellion by the Pilot camp. And second, MLAs loyal to Pilot, who are only a handful now, would have also been counted and compared with the numbers loyal to Gehlot. Pilot did not make a formal address to the gathering, and only spoke occasionally to his aides and the leaders around him.
What stood out was the absence of the photographs of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress symbol at the protest venue. There was a large photograph of Mahatma Gandhi in the backdrop, and two smaller photos of Gandhi and social reformer Jyotirao Phule, which were garlanded by Pilot when he reached there at 11 am.
Gehlot, who has not spoken on the latest developments, issued a video statement through social media saying he has to make Rajasthan the No. 1 state by 2030, and listed the several public welfare schemes launched by his government. The video was shared separately by the official Twitter handle of the Congress party.
During the five hours of the protest, the mood remained festive. Women danced and sang folk songs, while supporters chanted “Humara CM kaisa ho, Sachin Pilot jaisa ho” and “I love you, I love you, Sachin Pilot, I love you” while also demanding action against former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the alleged corruption cases that Pilot referred to.
Surrounding Pilot were Congress leader and president and founder of Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha, Pandit Suresh Mishra, former Jaipur Mayor Jyoti Khandelwal, Gopal Singh Shekhawat alias Gopal Edwa who is the chairman of Rajasthan Senior Citizen Welfare Board with state minister status, and Mahesh Sharma, chairman of Rajasthan State Vipra Welfare Board with state minister status.
At the end of his protest, Pilot said, “I had been raising this issue since long and it is the same issue which was raised by Rahul Gandhiji inside and outside the Parliament … We want to keep our voice against the widespread corruption under BJP governments in the past and present. Not just Congress, but all Opposition parties have shown unity on the issue of corruption.”
He pointed out that had it been an issue of the organisation, he would have kept it before the party, and reiterated the reason for his protest: that he wrote two letters to the CM asking him that the party keep its promise of an investigation into corruption during Vasundhara Raje’s tenure, but received no reply. “I hope there will be action,” he said.
On Randhawa saying that Pilot had never discussed this issue with him, he said, “He (Randhawa) has become in-charge only a few months ago. I had marked all the copies to the in-charge before him.”
A Gehlot loyalist MLA told The Indian Express, “It is unfortunate. This was not a party meet but an individual’s attempt. So he should talk within the party forum.”
