‘Would Pilot want to take charge of state unit at a time when a defeat in 2024 Lok Sabha elections is likely?’
NEW DELHI
After the Congress’ drubbing in the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, there is talk within the state about what sort of changes are needed in the cadre and the leadership of the grand old party. Sources say that the party may witness a churn at the top in the state, considering the general elections that are coming. This will decide the roles that outgoing Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his rival Sachin Pilot will play.
The party high command may focus on strengthening the Rajasthan cadre by making changes at the top. Moreover, Pilot may be in the race to become state Congress president by replacing the current president Govind Singh Dotasra. Party leaders believe that Dotasra has been incapable of handling the party affairs efficiently.
Pilot has been in the good books of the Gandhis, which has given rise to expectations that Rajasthan’s responsibility will be handed to him, and that this could eventually sideline Gehlot. There is also a buzz that Pilot has been buoyed by the failure of Gehlot, which may help Pilot to leapfrog to the top of the state’s party hierarchy.
A party leader said, “There is little time left for Congress to prepare for the Lok Sabha elections. If there is a change of leadership, it will take a lot of time for Pilot to sanitize the state hierarchy as he would want to. Therefore, would he take this chance when a third defeat is staring at him the same way he had faced in the last two Lok Sabha elections? There is a high probability the results will be same on all the 25 Lok Sabha seats.”
Over the past decade, Pilot had helmed the Rajasthan Congress affairs up until July 2020. Except the win in the Assembly elections in 2018, Congress performed poorly under him in the state in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Therefore, when the Congress is again on the backfoot in Rajasthan, the question is if he would want to take the responsibility of Rajasthan just five months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Aditya Rathi, an analyst tracking national politics, said, “Such a post will not be his promotion. And he should not take the position. Because, it doesn’t fit well that when the Congress is weak you turn to Pilot and when it is strong you give the Chief Minister position to Ashok Gehlot. Moreover, he has been on this post earlier and he had done his best to bring the party to power in 2018, but the baton of leadership was passed to Gehlot.”
According to a Congress leader, “There is no sign that Ashok Gehlot has become weak. He is strong until the high command makes a decision against him. He has worked independently. The high command isn’t happy about that. But he still has many legislators with him. It has to be seen how the high command deals with the Rajasthan situation now that he has failed to retain the state as he had promised to do.”
In addition to this, the party will need to appoint a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, who does not owe his/her loyalty to Gehlot. Sources suggest that the CLP could be from the Jat community and the two names that have been doing the rounds are that of Brijendra Singh Ola (who won the election with a 28,000 vote margin) and Harish Chaudhary.