While Congress leader Sachin Pilot camped in Delhi hoping to communicate his grievances to the party’s central leadership, his name began trending on Twitter. A hashtag created by his supporters, #JahanPilotWahanHum, topped the micro-blogging site. A reason for the trend was Jitin Prasada—a restive, young Congress leader like Pilot who, days earlier, had finally decided to cross over to the BJP.
In fact, on the morning of June 9 when Prasada was preparing to join the BJP, word had spread about a prominent Congress leader from north India joining the saffron party. Many wondered if it was Pilot. Like Prasada, Pilot had been a member of ‘Team Rahul’, a group of young leaders led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Once seen as the party’s future leadership, they are now unhappy with the present state of the organisation.
Prasada’s defection has put the spotlight on Pilot, who has long been locked in a power tussle with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Pilot has a long list of grievances, which he says have remained unresolved. His patience is wearing thin.
Discontent in the Congress’s Rajasthan unit had been gaining strength over the past weeks. Veteran party MLA Hemaram Choudhary, known to be close to Pilot, recently resigned from the assembly, and a few Pilot loyalists complained that the Gehlot government had neglected their constituencies. Almost a year after peace was brokered between Gehlot and Pilot, there was palpable restlessness in the Pilot camp. It culminated with Pilot openly complaining about the party high command’s unkept promises.
Around this time last year, Pilot had raised the banner of revolt against Gehlot and had camped in Haryana along with 18 legislators. He was then removed as deputy chief minister and state party president. There was speculation if he would join the BJP, but AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra soon called a truce between the warring leaders. A three-member committee of Ahmed Patel, K.C. Venugopal and Ajay Maken, who is now AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, was formed to look into the issue.
With Prasada’s exit, alarm bells rang in the party’s state unit. Priyanka is learnt to have reached out to Pilot and assured him that his demands would be met. He is also learnt to have been offered an AICC post, but he may not be too keen. The outreach had its impact, with Pilot dialling down the event planned in Dausa to mark the death anniversary of his father and former Congress leader Rajesh Pilot. From a show of strength, the event was reduced to a symbolic function and Pilot attended the party’s protests in Jaipur against rising fuel prices.
Pilot has ruled out joining the BJP. After Prasada’s exit, Pilot’s office released pictures of him attending the state Congress committee meeting in Jaipur. Sources close to Pilot say going to the BJP is not an option. He is not in a position to topple the Gehlot government, unlike Jyotiraditya Scindia, another former Team Rahul member whose exit from the party brought down the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh. At the same time, Pilot is not a political lightweight like Prasada; he has considerable influence in Rajasthan.
The Pilot camp claims it was promised berths in the Gehlot cabinet, the state committee and government boards and corporations. Pilot loyalists have been accommodated in the organisation, but the other promises reportedly remain unfulfilled.
“Sachin Pilot ji’s remarks are justified,” said Congress MLA Ramniwas Gawriya. “It took the efforts of lakhs of Congress workers to come to power. We placed their grievances before the high command. Eleven months have passed since the assurances were given, but the grievances have still not been resolved.”
A leader close to Pilot pointed out that, in contrast to Rajasthan, a three-member committee formed by the high command in Punjab held meetings with state party leaders and submitted its report to the central leadership in just three days.
As the politicking in the Congress gathers momentum, Maken has assured that a cabinet expansion and political appointments will take place soon. “All grievances will be dealt with and an amicable solution will be found,” he said.
Nine berths in the Gehlot cabinet are lying vacant. The cabinet currently has 21 members. Pilot’s demand is that his loyalists should get at least six berths.
State Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, learnt to be close to Gehlot, said that the appointments to district committees and other party councils will be completed this month. The cabinet expansion and other appointments will be done in July. “Although this is the jurisdiction of the chief minister, Maken ji has himself said it would happen. So there should be no room for any speculation,” he said.
But it is easier said than done. Those close to Gehlot cite the necessity to accommodate some of the 13 independent legislators who support the government and the six Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs who had joined the Congress. Also, a war of words continues between legislators loyal to Gehlot and those who belong to the Pilot camp. In the midst of the bitterness, the lingering mistrust became evident when an MLA known to be close to Pilot alleged that phones of Congress legislators were being tapped.
Gehlot takes solace from the divide in the state BJP unit, believing that it would not be able to capitalise on the divisions in the Congress. His government is not under any immediate threat, even if Pilot and his supporters were to be counted out. And, in the changed political circumstances, the Gandhis are also learnt to be fully backing Gehlot, who has over the past several months emerged as a major supporter at a time when questions are being raised about their credentials to lead the party.
Also, even as Pilot loyalists say they continue to stay united behind the former deputy chief minister, Gehlot has made attempts to win over some of them. MLAs known to be close to Pilot, such as Vishvendra Singh, P.R. Meena and Inder Ram Gujjar have made public statements that were seemingly in praise of Gehlot. Also, the chief minister has added to the uncertainty about the cabinet expansion by deciding not to have any in-person meetings for the next two months, citing doctor’s advice to prevent post-Covid complications.
Both the camps are also factoring in the next assembly elections, due in 2023. While Gehlot would want to have complete control over the organisation in the run-up to the polls, Pilot would want to have a stake in it and demand a share of seats for his candidates.
Meanwhile, the party high command is keen to ensure that Pilot does not go the Scindia-Prasada way. It has a rather difficult task: strike a fine balance between Pilot and Gehlot, one of the party’s only three incumbent chief ministers.