The Congress is undecided on whether to field its Rajasthan unit chief Sachin Pilot in the Lok Sabha by-election in Ajmer constituency, torn between the idea of putting in the fray a formidable name and the fallout of distracting its PCC president from his focus on preparing the party for assembly elections.
The names of Pilot and Congress leader Jitendra Singh have been doing the rounds as probable candidates for the bypolls to the Lok Sabha seats of Ajmer and Alwar, respectively. According to sources in the party, while the candidacy of Singh in Alwar has more or less been decided, a decision is yet to be taken on whether Pilot will contest from Ajmer.
The Congress is caught in a dilemma with regard to Pilot. While the initial thought was to field its best possible names for the two seats, there are now second thoughts on the benefits of fielding Pilot in the bypoll. There is a feeling that the Rajasthan PCC chief should be spared for larger party work in the run-up to the assembly election in the state, which is due towards the end of 2018.
“Pilot is focusing on state elections. He is aggressively carrying out a campaign against the Vasundhara Raje government. In such a situation, it has to be seen whether it is prudent to distract him from state elections,” a Congress leader said.
He pointed out that by the time the bypolls will be over, there will be only around eight months left for assembly elections in Rajasthan to be announced. Also, the momentum of the Congress's campaign against the Raje government will be affected with the PCC chief and other members of the state unit being made to focus on Ajmer.
Another issue that has to be factored in is that the BJP would field someone from former BJP MP Sanwar Lal Jat's family in the election. Jat's death has necessitated the bypoll, and the BJP would want to field a close relation of his so as to get sympathy votes. In this backdrop, the Congress leadership has to decide whether it is worth it to risk Pilot's prestige in the by-election. Pilot is a potential chief ministerial face for the party in the state, and a loss for him in the bypoll would affect his standing in the state's political dynamics and expose him to attacks in the faction-ridden state unit.
The BJP had swept all 25 seats on offer in the state in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. And the Congress would want to win the bypolls to project the election as a semifinal before the assembly elections and also argue that Modi's popularity is on the wane.
