Former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot is in the midst of fighting the greatest political battle of his career so far. The stakes are very high and the outcome could either propel him to greater heights or lead to a crash-landing from where it would not be easy to recover. Pilot was always viewed as one of the brightest young leaders in the arena where intrigue, machinations, craft and anticipation are all equally important to scale the innumerable obstacles that come in the way. His revolt appears to have been triggered by several factors, the foremost being his irreconcilable differences with his senior colleague, Ashok Gehlot. Things have not gone according to his plan and he finds himself in a tight position where options of returning with respectability to the Congress fold are fast diminishing while no categorical assurance is coming forth from the BJP camp as well. It is evident that he has not been properly advised and his inexperience in dealing with the ongoing complex situation and battle-hardened rivals is showing.
At the very outset, Pilot came across as a politician who was hankering for power, something that he could have avoided since it shows him in a negative light. All politicians seek positions but they camouflage their ambitions to appear like their commitment to a cause or the people. In his case, it is evident that he has rebelled as he was in a tearing hurry to succeed Gehlot. If working with his senior had become difficult, he should have resigned his position, while informing the Congress High Command that he was henceforth going to work only for the party to strengthen it further, in his own state and in the rest of the country. This way, he would have endeared himself to key functionaries within the Congress, besides sending a strong message to others, that this young leader’s politics was not about leading the government, but was about serving the people. The act itself would have even embarrassed Gehlot to some degree, and could have been used to gaining further proximity with the Gandhis, who at present call the shots in the grand old party.
By challenging the leadership, Pilot seems to have relied too much on promises of his elevation that may have come about from certain BJP quarters. These assurances may disappear, if he is unable to muster the numbers. That would leave him in political wilderness from where it would not be easy to make a comeback. In fact, the possibility of his shifting towards the saffron brigade has also brought to fore serious factional differences within the BJP. None of these factions are comfortable with the idea of a young leader coming and upstaging them in a party they have spent their entire lives in. Therefore, while Pilot may have thrown the dice, his success would need Machiavellian skills that would see him through this crisis of huge proportions. He may have pushed his luck too far.