Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 6: With the state assembly elections in Rajasthan now less than six months away, the Congress party grappling with a make-or-break leadership tussle between current Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, may have broken the deadlock on Thursday with the latter promising to fight the coming elections “unitedly.”
At a much-awaited meeting to put the house in order, the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi are learnt to have assured the younger leader and cautioned the senior, while praising Gehlot for his government’s popular welfare schemes.
The Congress high command is also learnt to have assured Sachin Pilot that it would direct the Ashok Gehlot government to act on his three demands, including a probe into alleged corruption cases during the previous Vasundhara Raje regime in Rajasthan, and warned against leaders speaking outside party forums.
The meeting attended by all senior leaders of the Congress was convened at the party headquarter in Delhi to discuss potential strategies for the election, while also attempting to resolve the ongoing leadership dispute.
According to sources, Pilot has expressed his desire for a respectable position within the party as a condition for his continued role in the Congress campaign in Rajasthan. Gehlot, however, while nursing fractures in both toes, remains reluctant to share power, aiming to lead the party firmly and under the banner of his social welfare pitch.
Pilot was present at the meeting along with 28 other leaders from the state for talks that lasted four hours, with the overall thrust being firming up the party’s strategy for the forthcoming Assembly elections. Gehlot, who was advised rest by doctors after he fractured his left toe a few days ago, joined the meeting virtually.
Addressing a press meeting later, AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said leaders had been warned strictly to maintain discipline. He also announced that the party’s Rajasthan unit would begin a house-to-house campaign to take the various schemes of the state government to the people from Friday.
Pilot has raised the stakes in his battle against Gehlot in the past few days. In April, he sat on a symbolic hunger strike in Jaipur, followed by a five-day yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur in May, claiming stalled progress in alleged corruption cases against the Raje government, and demanding disbanding of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (which has seen leakage of papers in several exams), its reconstitution via a new law, and compensation for students who have suffered due to the question paper leaks.
After the meeting, Pilot said he had raised the above issues. “We discussed all the issues with an open mind… I had raised certain issues publicly — the issue of paper leaks, how to reform our public service commission, issues of corruption of the previous government — I have been raising these for some time. I am happy that the AICC has taken cognizance and prepared a blueprint to take action on the issues,” he said.
Asked about his role, he said: “I have fulfilled all the responsibilities that the party has given me in the past, be it at the Centre and in the state. In the future too, I will abide by the directions of the party.”
Calling the discussions positive, meaningful and extensive, Pilot said: “We will fight the elections unitedly.”
Addressing a press conference with AICC in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra on his sides, Venugopal dodged the question about who would be the party’s candidate for chief minister, the post that has been the bone of contention between Pilot and Gehlot for the entire length of the Congress tenure. “You know our history. We never announce a chief ministerial candidate. But we will fight together in the elections. There is a government, a good government which is doing good work… That work will give results,” he said.
Venugopal added that every one of the 29 leaders from the state present at the meeting said “we can win Rajasthan easily provided there is total unity.” “Earlier, there were differences but the speciality of today’s meeting was that the entire leadership decided in unison that we have to fight the elections unitedly.”
He added: “From today onwards, everybody should follow strict discipline. Whatever issues are there, they have to discuss it inside the party. Outside, nobody has the freedom to speak about inner party politics, whether it is against the government or against the party. If anybody speaks, there will be strict disciplinary action.”
Praising Gehlot, Venugopal said he was doing good work. “The schemes (by his government) are very good. We need to take those schemes to the ground level. We need to work hard, and a plan was drawn up… Our ministers, MLAs, leaders and workers have planned a house-to-house campaign from tomorrow. The party has decided to engage with all communities, all social groups and have interactions with them about the election manifesto in the coming 90 days.”
Sources said Rahul Gandhi specifically raised the issue of corruption, which Pilot has been talking about, saying the party should vociferously counter the BJP on the issue. To Gehlot, Rahul said while his government had come out with good schemes and policies, the impression that bureaucrats were running the show needed to be addressed.
Rahul also expressed concern that while SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities form the party’s core vote base, they were “not getting enough representation” in the government and share in power, and this too needed to be corrected.
Kharge told Gehlot bluntly that several cases of atrocities on Dalits had come to light in Rajasthan, and he should take strong action. The Congress president went on to recite the Kabir couplet ‘Kal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab, pal mein pralaya hoyegi, bahuri karega kab’, underlining the need for quick action, and told Gehlot to buckle up and get into battle mode.
Sources said there was criticism about the lack of coordination between the party and government by some leaders at the meeting. Venugopal spoke about this at the press conference, saying coordination will be strengthened.
On candidate selection, Venugopal said “winnability” would be the prime concern. The party is conducting multiple surveys to shortlist candidates, he said, and would announce the names in the first week of September.
On issues raised by Pilot, Venugopal said for the Rajasthan Public Service Commission, good criteria were being fixed. “A new legislation is coming. Question paper leakage is a big issue, not only in Rajasthan but everywhere… Those who are guilty of question paper leak will face tough punishment. The new legislation is going to come up in the next Assembly session.”
In a tweet following the meeting, Kharge expressed optimism for the Congress’s prospects in Rajasthan, stating the party will “unitedly go amongst the people.” The Rajasthan elections are crucial for the Congress, as the party hopes to break the state’s revolving door trend, where the incumbent party has routinely been voted out of power every five years. But the disagreement between two of its top leaders complicates the scenario, cornering the party into resolving its leadership issues.
The Congress leadership hopes to apply lessons learned from the recent resolution of a similar power struggle in Chhattisgarh, where Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s political rival TS Singh Deo was named his deputy last week. Over the past months, Pilot has been publicly critical of Gehlot’s administration over alleged inaction against corruption charges levied against the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government. Pilot has also called for the disbanding of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission and demanded action for victims of job exam paper leaks.
The two leaders, however, appeared headed for reconciliation after several attempts, with both Gehlot and Pilot engaging in extensive discussions with Kharge and Gandhi in May. In a move seemingly intended to placate Pilot, Gehlot announced earlier this week that the Rajasthan government planned to introduce a bill to increase punishment for those involved in exam paper leaks.
