NEW DELHI: Jitendra Singh’s bid for Rajasthan Congress president faces resistance due to Sachin Pilot’s ambitions.
Congress General Secretary In-charge of Madhya Pradesh Jitendra Singh, who shares close ties with the Gandhis, has been lobbying within the organisation to attain the position of president of the Rajasthan unit of Congress.
An official close to the top leadership at the AICC said, “There is less possibility that he will be made the president of the Rajasthan cadre. For a very long time, Sachin Pilot has been eyeing to get the power of the whole state but he was kept out of it by Ashok Gehlot. His expectations were that once Gehlot steps down, he will come up as an undisputed leader in the state. Therefore, if another leader close to Gandhis takes up the position, he may leave the party which will be detrimental for Congress, not only in Rajasthan but in other states as well.”
A senior leader aware of the sensitivity of Rajasthan politics where Sachin Pilot is seen to be a default successor to Ashok Gehlot, suggested that any such decision (of appointing Singh as the president of Rajasthan cadre) would antagonise Congress’s popular leader Sachin Pilot, therefore all the decisions regarding the arrangements in Rajasthan will be taken after consultation with Pilot.
He added, “We believe that today he has become very powerful in Congress. He may be the most powerful leader in Congress after Gandhis in terms of acceptance, influence as well as popularity. Therefore, the decisions regarding Rajasthan will be taken after assessing his considerations.”
Although there are no talks of change of guard in Rajasthan unit of Congress, there are leaders in the state indicating that the current president Govind Singh Dotasra is nearing the end of his tenure and therefore, the preparations to win over the position of party chief has already started.
A senior Congress leader said, “Dotasra has been the president for around four years. I think five years is the upper limit of the tenure and therefore, he may get replaced by next year.”
He added, “Right now, there is a lot of time until the next Assembly elections, if someone gets the position, he won’t have much drive to do things. Sachin Pilot can become the president but only if he is promised certain things. Things that will ensure his ascension as a chief minister if Congress wins the next Assembly elections.”
Moreover, party insiders suggest that he may get relieved from his current position of general secretary in-charge for he has been unable to give any substantial results. However, senior leaders close to Singh suggest, if his past appointments are anything to go by, he may be reinstated as a general secretary in-charge in another state.
A young Congress leader said, “As long as I have been in Congress, I have always seen him holding a high position of general secretary. I think it’s been around 14 years since he has been in this position. But the fact is that he has been unable to perform wherever he goes. His only quality is that he is close to the Gandhis.”
According to experts, Rahul Gandhi may have become strong at the centre after getting around 100 Lok Sabha seats but he is still not supreme in taking hard-hitting decisions. Due to the reason that Congress is helming only two big states (Karnataka and Telangana) in the country, the Gandhi scion is relying on loyalists more than those who hold merit. A political analyst said, “If he wins more states in the upcoming Assembly elections, he may prefer merit, which will subsequently shed non- performing leaders.”