The 2019 general election saw Congress being decimated in the face of what many are calling, ‘tsuNAMO 2.0’. This embarrassing defeat for the Congress has now left the ground open for the blame game to peak. Rajasthan, one of the states where the Congress faced a clean sweep, despite winning majority support in the assembly elections just a few months back, is in the spotlight again. Rift between Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and DY CM Sachin Pilot seems to have intensified after the Lok Sabha debacle. According to reports, Ashok Gehlot wants Sachin Pilot to take responsibility for his son’s election defeat. Vaibhav Gehlot lost out to Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Jodhpur Constituency by a margin of more than 2.5 Lakh votes.
In an Interview given to ABP news , Ashok Gehlot had made these remarks regarding Sachin Pilot, he had also indicated that it was Sachin Pilot who, being the state Congress committee chief, had recommended for Vaibhav Gehlot to contest from Jodhpur.
He said “Pilot also said that we will win Jodhpur with a big margin, because we have six MLAs in the Lok Sabha constituency and our poll campaign was so fabulous. So, I feel he should own responsibility for that seat at least. There should be a complete post-mortem of the results in Jodhpur seat to find out why we did not win it.”
“He said that we were winning [from Jodhpur] and that he got the party ticket [for Vaibhav]. But we lost all 25 seats. If someone says that the CM or the PCC chief should take responsibility for it, I believe it’s a collective responsibility,” he added.
In the interview, Gehlot insisted that everyone has to take blame for the rout. “If someone wins, everyone wants credit but if there is a loss, no one is ready to take responsibility. Elections are held under collective leadership” he said
Though Pilot has refrained from directly attacking Gehlot, his camp has openly held the Chief Minister responsible for the Congress’ defeat in the state.
Reports of cracks in the Congress’ state unit in Rajasthan have been surfacing since Sachin pilot was sidelined for Ashok Gehlot, post the victory in state assembly polls. The elevation of Ashok Gehlot to the CM’s post had angered Sachin pilot supporters, who placed him as the deserving candidate for the top post in the state.
The defeat has pushed Congress in a defensive position. Joining Rajasthan are other states including Madhya Pradesh where tri-lateral of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Digvijaya Singh and CM Kamal Nath has been turning out to be detrimental for the party organization in the state. In Karnataka too, intra Congress disputes have been surfacing. Rift among state leaders is surely an indication of weakening of Gandhi-Nehru dynasty’s hold over Congress as the regional differences which were earlier steeled by the family are now coming out in the open.