Is there a big conspiracy being hatched to destabilise the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan? This question is being raised in the political circles after former PCC chief Sachin Pilot’s latest statement of what shows his rivalry with Gehlot. Pilot, who was once removed from the post of PCC chief after the rebellion, has questioned the credibility of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. He has done so despite the fact that Rahul Gandhi recently not only lauded Gehlot’s pro-people decisions but also stressed on the need to get them implemented in other states. After Rahul’s appreciation of the Gehlot government, the political uncertainty in Rajasthan was over. But Pilot has again taken a pot shot at the CM. In fact, by doing so, he has cast aspersions at the high command itself.
Whatever Sachin said during press interaction on Wednesday is being seen as another round of attempt to destabilise the government in Rajasthan. All eyes are on the newly-elected Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge to see whether he will take any action against leaders who are weakening the party. Already, the high command’s silence on such acts has harmed the party massively in the past. By likening PM Modi’s praise for Gehlot to his admiration for Ghulam Nabi Azad, Pilot has actually disregarded his CM only.
PM Modi has praised Gehlot several times in the past. He had appreciated Gehlot’s efforts to tackle the pandemic in various meetings. When Modi was Gujarat CM, he never had any confrontation with Gehlot over any issue. If PM Modi said that Gehlot is a senior CM, what is wrong in that? Undoubtedly, Gehlot is senior to PM Modi. But Pilot spoke as if he was more experienced than both Gehlot and Azad. The Congress on Wednesday defended Gehlot amid all this criticism. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said that Ashok Gehlot has in fact shown mirror to Modi by mentioning about “democracy” and terming India as “a country of Gandhi and Nehru” from the same dais.
Interestingly, Pilot’s statements have come just days after general secretary K.C. Venugopal’s warning to leaders against making any controversial comments in Rajasthan. Despite this, Pilot’s statements came against Gehlot, which hints at a conspiracy. This is all harming the party which is facing the worst ever crisis since its inception. Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are the only states left in the Congress kitty. It lost MP due to infighting. It went down to number 4 position in Punjab. With the party facing a series of electoral defeats, Congress insiders are conspiring to rock the boat of Gehlot. Surprisingly, the high command is like a mute spectator. Azad may have left the party after being upset with the present policy of the Congress, but he always stood by the party all through bad times. Gehlot has also a long political career spanning over 50 years, which is more than Sachin’s age. Gehlot is the only leader who never left the party. He has been considered the only staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family. But he was stopped from becoming Congress president. Moreover, his rivals tried to create a difference between him and the Gandhis.
When the truth unravelled, Rahul called Gehlot to Bellary. Rahul admired his decisions during Bharat Jodo Yatra, reposing faith in him. After this, the Rajasthan crisis came to an end. CM Gehlot was also focussing on the Gujarat mission after that. Rahul also joined his mission and tweeted several promises that the Gehlot government fulfilled in Rajasthan.
These policies are the old pension scheme, regularisation of daily wage employees, timely promotion, etc. Gehlot’s trips to Gujarat started creating a positive atmosphere for Congress. But in the midst of all this, Sachin Pilot once again tried to heat up politics in an apparent bid to destabilise the Congress government. However, it will not impact CM Gehlot and his government in Jaipur. Definitely, the BJP will take advantage of all this. The saffron party is already keeping its eyes on the disgruntled MLAs. However, the number of such legislators is not more than four. So, the Gehlot government is not going to be affected by any such bids.
Another surprising comment that Pilot made was about the discipline. Contrary to what he said, Pilot himself tried to topple the Gehlot government with the help of over a dozen MLAs two years ago. The ‘Operation Lotus’ could not succeed due to Gehlot’s alertness. Now, Pilot is calling for action against MLAs who in September allegedly engineered a boycott of the CLP meeting. This also amounts to questioning the high command’s wisdom. The high command is said to be satisfied with the explanation from these three legislators. The high command does not want to carry out any change in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Like Kamal Nath in MP, the party leadership will allow Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel to lead the party in elections in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively.
Meanwhile, Rahul has not yet forgiven the leaders who were behind the toppling game in Rajasthan. These leaders will hardly be included in Kharge’s team which will be formed in February. But Congress chief Kharge will have to take tough action against those who continue making remarks against Gehlot and senior party leaders.
