Can the fight between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot be resolved?
As the Congress meets on Thursday to find a solution for the poll-bound state, here’s a brief history of its trouble in Rajasthan
Jaipur: At the start of the week, Congress leader Sachin Pilot launched a missive — or a few — against Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s inaction against the corruption of the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Vasundhara Raje. On Tuesday, Pilot held a day-long fast in protest.
“I do not believe in revenge politics. But we had some credibility as the opposition and that's why we came to power,” Pilot said.
The confrontation between the two top Congress leaders of Rajasthan before the assembly polls in November-December this year is reminiscent of 2018, when Pilot’s supporters landed up in Delhi to make a case for him to become CM after the results of the election held that year were declared. At the time, the Congress high command managed to mollify Pilot and made Gehlot CM.
This time around, however, the Congress high command has toughened its stand. In a late-night statement on Monday, Congress Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the protest was against the party’s interest and amounted to anti-party activity. That didn’t deter Pilot from staging his protest the following day. The party held a meeting on Thursday in the hope to resolve the matter.
The confrontation could dampen the party’s prospects in the polls, where the Congress is looking to return to power on Gehlot’s social security for all – the government’s much-touted healthcare bill that provides access to healthcare to every resident of the state received the governor’s nod on Wednesday.
Past trouble
The first signs of trouble emerged shortly before the 2018 assembly polls. The Congress candidate list was delayed as the groups led by Gehlot and by Pilot took time to reach a consensus on several tickets. Eventually, nearly two dozen Congress aspirants contested either as independent candidates or on tickets of smaller parties, and only eight of them won. Congress won 100 of the 200 seats in the assembly that year.
Soon after the results were declared, hectic lobbying and shows of strength by both camps followed. Pilot reportedly claimed the CM’s role as state party chief. Gehlot had reportedly told the party high command that the majority of MLAs sided with him.
It was only in the first week of January 2019, that the Congress was able to find an amicable solution nominating Gehlot as CM and Pilot as his deputy. Selecting the cabinet took a week as both leaders tried to accommodate their loyalists in the council of ministers. Leaders close to Pilot claimed that the party promised to hand over the baton to him before the 2023 assembly elections.
On July 12, 2020, the infighting spilled out when a social media group run by team Pilot issued a statement claiming that the Gehlot-led government was in a “minority”: The Pilot camp claimed to have the support of 30 Congress MLAs and some independents sparking fears that the Gehlot government could be reduced to a minority in the house since the BJP had 73 MLAs at that time and its allies included three MLAs from Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and 13 independents.
In response, Gehlot’s aides asked all Congress MLAs to gather at the CM’s residence in Jaipur. Most of the MLAs went — some under police protection — except 19, who were camped out in a resort in Manesar, Haryana. Gehlot shifted the remaining 104 to a resort outside of Jaipur.
On July 14, the Congress moved a disqualification petition against the rebel MLAs, and speaker CP Joshi issued a notice to them the next day. Pilot was removed as state party chief and from his post as deputy CM. Gehlot loyalist Govind Singh Dotasara was named as the new state party chief.
A rebellion contained
The political battle between the two took an ugly turn after Gehlot described Pilot as “Nikamma (useless)” during his daily media interactions and said he had failed to perform as rural development minister of the state. Pilot reacted by saying the performance of the Gehlot government was below par and it has failed to implement the manifesto promises.
The Congress appointed a committee of senior party leaders such as Randeep Surjewalla, Ajay Maken and K C Venugopal to find a solution, but ultimately the Gandhi family, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, intervened and held a meeting with the rebel MLAs in Delhi. Pilot placed the demand for greater representation of his supporters in the cabinet, in governance through boards and corporations and in the party organisation. He asked for a time-bound implementation of these demands. The committee constituted a three-member committee under Ahmed Patel to ensure that Pilot camp’s grievances get addressed.
On August 11, 2020, the 19 rebel MLAs returned to Jaipur. Gehlot won the floor test in the assembly with support from the Pilot camp on August 14. Avinash Pande was replaced by Ajay Maken as All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan. But the detente didn’t last long.
Ahmed Patel succumbed to Covid-19 and Venugopal became the committee head, but Pilot’s key demand for a cabinet reshuffle and a reorganisation of the state’s Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) remained as yet unfulfilled. The two camps continued to come up against each other, whether it was over nominations to different corporations and boards such as the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, housing board or women commission or over the expansion of the cabinet in November 2021. Pilot was starting to get restless again.
Gehlot’s almost-exit, and return to Rajasthan
On September 24, 2022, the Congress high command asked Gehlot to call a meeting of the legislative party to elect a new leader. There was a buzz that Pilot will be elected as the new CM as desired by the party high command, to replace Gehlot who was to take over as Congress national president. He had formally announced his candidature for the Congress presidential election a month ago, stating that he took the decision since “nobody from the Gandhi family was contesting.” But on September 29, Gehlot said that he won’t contest after a meeting with the then interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi amid turmoil in his home state.
Though Gehlot was reportedly favoured by the Gandhis, emerging as the top contender for the top post, the Gehlot camp baulked over Pilot becoming chief minister. Two ministers, Mahesh Joshi and Shanti Dhariwal, called all MLAs to a meeting at the latter's residence as they were reportedly unhappy when Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken, who were to be the observers at the legislative party meeting, approved a one-line resolution authorising the party-high command to decide the next chief minister. The Gehlot camp MLAs wanted the decision on the next chief minister to be taken through an open ballot.
On September 25, 2022, around 90 Congress MLAs submitted their resignation to the assembly speaker to register their opposition to the CLP meeting. As a result, Kharge and Maken returned to Delhi and the legislative party meeting could not be held. MLAs close to Pilot said that the meeting at Dhariwal’s residence was orchestrated by Gehlot. “Prima facie it is indiscipline, as an unofficial meeting was called, when already an official meeting was scheduled,” Maken told news reporters about the meeting conducted at Dhariwal’s place.
Subsequently, the Congress disciplinary committee issued show cause notices to Dhariwal, Joshi and senior party leader Dharmendra Rathore.
Jaipur-based political analyst Manish Godha said the infighting in the Congress party has had a negative impact on the functioning of the government. “The fight for the CM’s chair has never allowed the government to function smoothly, though Gehlot managed to introduce some big policy changes and schemes such as OPS or Chiranjeevi health scheme,” he said.
On November 24, a few days before the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra was to enter Rajasthan, Gehlot called Sachin Pilot a gaddar (traitor) in a television interview and said he cannot be made the chief minister. Pilot responded by saying that a senior party leader should use better words for his younger colleague and maintain decorum. Both state leaders participated in the yatra, albeit on different legs of it as it made its way through the state.
Narayan Bareth, another political analyst, blamed the Congress high command for failing to find a permanent solution. “Since the government was formed in Rajasthan, Pilot has not missed an opportunity to corner the party and the government. The Congress is facing a bigger challenge than the opposition in Rajasthan.”
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