‘The strategy is to make him the chairman of the campaign committee and project him as the top leader’.
NEW DELHI: Sachin Pilot may be made the Chief Minister face of the Congress in the coming Assembly elections later this year, according to a source close to Sonia Gandhi. Moreover, the strategy, a party insider said, is to make him the chairman of the campaigns committee and project him as a top leader. Meanwhile, Ashok Gehlot may be given responsibility in the AICC.
However, apprehension in the party is that since Gehlot has a single point agenda of keeping Pilot out of the CM’s chair, he may not let Pilot become the leader of Rajasthan cadre. Known for his political manoeuvring, Gehlot has sized down every leader who has stood against him.
An analyst in the state said, “If we look back from the 1998 elections when Congress won by a majority, Gehlot was not even in the CM’s race, but he took the hot seat in the state and since then, whosoever has come between him and the CM’s chair has lost their own ground because of Gehlot’s politics. Be it C.P. Joshi who lost 2008 elections with just a single vote and later got embroiled in the Rajasthan Cricket Association scam or Mahipal Maderna who was indicted for the Bhamwari Devi scandal. Moreover, Gehlot has tried every trick to destroy Pilot in a bid to keep his dominance in the state alive. But till now, we can say that Pilot is still politically alive.” Last time, Gehlot had fielded around a score of his loyalists as independents. When around 17 of them won, Gehlot had leverage to tell the high command that he has the majority of MLAs with him. The Congress was short of just one seat to form the government and Gehlot had the cure. Pilot, who had run campaigns in the state, was expecting to become CM. But Gehlot had the support of majority MLAs and independents. If Gehlot is not willing to leave the state, a leader said, he may play that trick again in order to retain his position.
A party leader said, “This time, it will be about ticket distribution. The one who would be getting more tickets will subsequently be projected as the CM. Sachin Pilot is close to Rahul Gandhi and he is someone who has remained in the party, while other young leaders chosen by the Gandhi left and joined the BJP, like Jitin Prasada, R.P.N. Singh and Scindia. Moreover, Gehlot has spoiled his relationship with the Gandhis after that September rebellion. So, it is likely that Gehlot may not come back as a leading face for the party in Rajasthan.”
Differences between Gehlot and Pilot emerged during the ticket distribution in 2018 where Gehlot insisted that his loyalists get majority of tickets. Pilot, then backed by Rahul Gandhi, prevailed over Gehlot during ticket distribution. Gehlot fielded his loyalists to contest as independents and when Congress fell short of one seat for a full majority, Gehlot showed his “strength” by bringing independent MLAs to Congress’ fold.