Sachin Pilot Strike: How many of you remember what happened in Punjab just before the assembly elections? Well, as not much was predicted by the political analysts of the country, Captain Amrinder Singh was replaced with Charanjit Singh Channi, but it reaped no results for the party. Second question: why did Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is currently a union minister, ditch the Congress party and join hands with the BJP with his supporters?
Let me put some facts forward. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Jyotiraditya Scindia are big names who parted ways from Congress. Similar to them, there have been over 100 politicians who have ditched the grand old party, be it Anil Antony or Ghulam Nabi Azad. Now, there is considerable speculation laced with rumours pertaining to the future politics of two Congress regional satraps, Sachin Pilot of Rajasthan and DK Shivakumar of Karnataka. Shivkumar is still playing down his protest, while Sachin Pilot has begun his.
Sachin Pilot accuses Gehlot hand in glove with Raje
Infighting among the Congress is not a new tale, from differences between Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi to DK Shivkumar and Siddaramaiah. The Congress Party has time and again failed to conceal the differences. Sachin Pilot, the second-in-command in Rajasthan, has for very long been a hard nut for Congress’ central leadership. Now, the pain is going to increase manifolds.
Pilot had a press conference on Sunday and targeted Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, accusing him of being hand in glove with the former BJP CM of Rajasthan, Vasundhra Raje Scindia. In his press conference, Pilot targeted Gehlot over issues of corruption. “Due to inaction by the Ashok Gehlot government against corruption cases during the Vasundhara Raje regime, our opponents can question whether they are wearing gloves,” said the Congress MLA.
Also read: If Sachin Pilot can’t capitalise on this moment, then he should consider retiring to Himalayas
Sachin Pilot opens a front against CM Gehlot
In the press conference, Sachin Pilot announced to open a new front against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Saying that, the Congress party had fought hard while being in opposition, which helped the party regain power in the state. On April 11, the anniversary of Jyotiba Phule, Pilot sat on a one-day fast, demanding action against corruption levelled during the Raje era.
The occasion happens to have a message, as Jyotiba Phule belonged to the Saini Community, the same community that Gehlot represents. He sat at the Shaheed Smarak to press for his demand, further bringing out the power tussle between him and Gehlot in the state. This can also be a step taken to put pressure on the central leadership to resolve the tussle before the year-end polls.
Understanding Congress’ high commands’ “appropriate timing”
What’s the response of the Congress party to Sachin Pilot’s protest? Well, the leadership close to the family is seen siding with Gehlot, saying that the timing chosen by Pilot is not appropriate. The reason might be that the party is way too busy with the membership of the Gandhi scion, Rahul Gandhi.
The message was delivered when All India Congress Committee general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh came out to praise the Ashok Gehlot government for implementing several schemes and taking initiatives that “impacted the people profoundly”.
Without mentioning anything about Pilot, he said, “The Congress will seek a renewed mandate from the people on the strength of these landmark achievements and the collective efforts of our organisation.” The message couldn’t have been clearer: the party is preparing to go into elections with the Gehlot government’s ‘achievements’ as its central resting plank, and it wants Pilot to pipe down and put in ‘collective’ efforts.
Congress’ Rajasthan incharge, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, said that the timing of Pilot’s rebellion was not appropriate. Randhawa said, “See, the party is preoccupied with (agitating over) Rahul Ji’s disqualification. We are holding press conferences every day, mobilising workers… In my view, it was not the right time… Firstly, he has not spoken to me about this issue. But there are big leaders. He could have spoken to them. Nevertheless, I will go and speak to both of them.”
Also read: From “Chattis Kaum” to the leader of the Gujjar community: The shrinking base of Sachin Pilot
Congress’ betrayal of the Rajasthanis
Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot have been at loggerheads ever since the Congress formed the government in Rajasthan in December 2018 over the post of chief minister. The tussle has only strengthened further since then.
The power tussle going on in Rajasthan is not a one-day affair, but rather has been brewing since the day Congress high command chose Gehlot over Pilot for the chief minister’s post, despite Pilot doing all the groundwork for the party. The party’s high command would have thought that the party’s prospects would improve under Gehlot, but the Congress party ended up losing all 25 seats to the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This gave Pilot an opportunity to vocally criticise Gehlot’s leadership.
In 2020, Pilot had a section of legislators rebelling openly and demanding a change of guard in the state. It had then led to a one-month-long political crisis that ended after the high command of the party promised to look into the issues raised by Pilot. Since then, it has been very ugly between Gehlot and his deputy, Sachin Pilot. Gehlot has openly accused him of being “Gaddar”, Nakara,” and “Nikamma” for Pilot, accusing him of being involved with BJP leaders in a conspiracy to topple the Congress government.
Also read: When a rookie Indian pilot showed digitus medius to Uncle SAM
Days before the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the desert state, Gehlot had mounted an attack on Pilot. Pilot had then responded to it by saying that it was not his upbringing to use such language. However, Pilot has been protesting from time to time against the Gehlot government in Rajasthan, sometimes by targeting the home department, which is held by Gehlot, for deteriorating law and order in the state and often on sensitivity. Over the matter of infant deaths in Kota, Pilot had said that a more sensitive response was expected of the CM of the state. Pilot, after visiting the hospital, slammed his own government and stressed that accountability for the entire episode should be fixed.
The way ahead for Congress and Sachin Pilot
“Khud kiye tum ne apni diwaron me surakh, Ab koi jhaank raha hai tou shikayet kaisi?” It translates to: You made holes in your walls. Now if someone is peeping through, why should you complain? This phrase has been used by Ghulam Nabi Azaad in his recently released book Azaad, where, taking reference from the phrase, he emphasised that the party high command over the years had not allowed the state leadership to prosper.
In his words, “high command marginalised and cut to size its own popular state leaders and supported weak leadership”, leading to the party’s eventual destruction in states. ” There are many examples: Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, Vir Bahadur Singh, Jagannath Mishra, JB Patnaik, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and the ouster of Captain Amrinder Singh. Well, witnessing all this, it seems that Congress has drilled a similar Surakh in Rajasthan.
It’s clear that no one from the Congress party is going to consider what Pilot has to say. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been such reluctance. The Congress party is clear in its head; it’s not going for any change of guard just 8 months before the elections. Pilot does have a lot of sympathisers inside the party. His voter base is also not to be questioned. However, there is an unsaid rule in politics: if you fail to fulfil the aspirations of people who voted for you, they will find someone else to vote for.
Many believe that Pilot is building pressure on the high command to take a call on Rajasthan right after the Karnataka results are out on May 13. But as we all know, it’s easier to hope than to achieve. And for someone like Pilot, who has lost opportunities time and again, the best being in 2020, by trusting the central leadership, who are siding now with Gehlot, it can be said that the Pilot may not fly this time either.
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