Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 20: With the Congress high command remaining a dumb spectator to the deepening rancour between the party’s two top leaders in Rajasthan, the grand old party seems to have given up any hope of retaining power in the state going to the polls later this year.
In a video that is viral, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot appears to refer to his former deputy Sachin Pilot as a “Coronavirus,” and his arch rival hitting back saying that he lost all respect for his chief minister. “It is important to maintain restraint in politics. If you give respect, you will get it.” Pilot told a party rally on Friday.
In the video that emerged on Thursday, Gehlot was heard saying, “I have resumed meetings. Earlier there was corona …A big corona also entered our party.” It isn’t clear whether he meant for the remarks to come out in public. Though the Chief Minister didn’t take names, it was evident that he was targeting his former deputy, whom he has previously called “gaddar (traitor)” and “nikamma (worthless).”
In 2020, the year Covid erupted worldwide, Sachin Pilot launched his revolt against the Chief Minister, camping for days near Delhi until the Gandhis met him. Mr Pilot didn’t name Mr Gehlot either when he retaliated at a rally. “I have never used words for my opponents that I wouldn’t want to hear for myself. One should control one’s tongue. It is easy to hurl gaali-galauj (abuse), but it is hard to take back words once spoken. I have never made personal attacks. If you give respect, you will get it,” Mr Pilot said. His hint was clear, he did not consider Gehlot as his party colleague but an “opponent.”
This means that the ruling Congress in the 2023 elections will have to fight against two “opponents,” the BJP, which is waiting in the wings to pounce on the ruling party, and the internal rivals within the party. The sparring exposes the Congress as a big mess just before polls in one of the few states it rules, despite the unity on display when Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through Rajasthan.
Making it clear that a patch-up is nowhere in sight, Pilot launched a solo campaign for the Rajasthan polls soon after the Yatra. So far, the campaign has only highlighted the feud – not the best look for a party about to seek re-election.
Their ties plumbed new depths after Mr Gehlot in November, last year, called his former deputy a “gaddar (traitor)” and said he would not be chief minister. “A gaddar (traitor) cannot be Chief Minister. The High Command cannot make Sachin Pilot the Chief Minister… a man who doesn’t have 10 MLAs. He betrayed the party, (he) is a traitor,” Mr Gehlot had said.
The Gehlot-Pilot feud first surfaced when both competed for the Chief Minister’s job after the Congress’s Rajasthan victory in 2018. Though Mr Pilot agreed to play second fiddle to the veteran, he revolted two years later, demanding a better share in power. But the rebellion fizzled out as 100-plus MLAs chose to stay with Mr Gehlot. At no point has Mr Pilot been able to produce more than 20 MLAs on his side, making it tougher for the party to attempt a detente.
In September, when Mr Gehlot was considered by the Congress for the party president’s post, nearly 80 MLAs loyal to him revolted over reports that Mr Pilot would replace him as Rajasthan Chief Minister. Only about a dozen in the 107-member strong legislature party supported Pilot’s candidature. Gehlot refused to move to Delhi and stayed in Rajasthan pouring water to Pilot’s ambitions and the Congress opted for Mallikarjun Kharge as Sonia Gandhi’s successor.