Boost for CM Gehlot as Pilot mutiny all but over
Truce worked out as rebel Congress leader calls on party brass
NEW DELHI: Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, whose rebellion raised questions about the stability of the Congress government in the state, appeared to have agreed to a truce after his meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, putting an end to a month-long uncertainty involving dramatic legal and political flashpoints in the western state.
Pilot expressed his “grievances in detail” in the “open and conclusive discussion” with former party president Gandhi, the Congress said in a statement, while declaring the formation of a three-member committee to look into the issues raised by the 42-year-old leader and the 18 other rebel legislators who backed him. “...Shri Sachin Pilot has committed to working in the interest of the Congress party and the Congress government in Rajasthan,” the statement issued by KC Venugopal, Congress general secretary in charge of the organisation, said.
Leaders close to Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who has had differences with Pilot on a number of issues since the Congress-led government came to power in December 2018, said Gehlot will accept the high command’s decision and termed Pilot’s move as a “face-saver”.
Pilot’s apparent softening of stance not only bolsters Gehlot
politically and eliminates any possible threat to his government but also gives a much-needed breather to the Congress, which has been suffering due to a perceived generational gap between its old and young leaders at a time when it is also struggling to stay relevant nationally in the face of an aggressive Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) .
At one point, a rapprochement looked distant with Gehlot launching a personal attack on Pilot, but Monday’s meeting changed all that.
The meeting, which came four days ahead of the beginning of a
crucial assembly session in the state, took place for over two hours after noon at the 12, Tughlaq Road residence of Gandhi, a leader from the Pilot camp familiar with the details told HT, requesting anonymity. He also confirmed the presence of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
“The Gandhis did save the day for the Gehlot government,” the person quoted above said, confirming a peaceful resolution. “They [the Congress leadership] assured Pilot that the issues he had would be looked into,” he said. “The Congress leadership
appreciated that Pilot did not respond to utterances by the chief minister and other leaders owing allegiance to him. All issues that his supporters raised will also be looked into,” said the leader. “Pilot also stressed that the grievances of his people should be addressed, they should get respect and their work should get done and he categorically stated that he does not want any post.”
Later in the day, Pilot said “we raised issues of principles before the Congress leadership, and welcome their assurance of a timebound redressal of our grievances”.
NEW DELHI: The resolution of the Rajasthan battle within the Congress on Monday brings to an end the possibility of a split in the party and cements its position in the state, boosts the morale of the rank and file, provides a mechanism for conflict resolution, and re-establishes the centrality of the Gandhis in mediating party disputes — for now.
All of this will make Congress leaders, struggling with a series of successive setbacks, smile.
But the Rajasthan battle was essentially a political and personal battle between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and the former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. And it is clear that Gehlot has won more than he has lost.
First, examine Pilot’s actions, objectives and current position.
The resolution on Monday was not the outcome Pilot was hoping for. He set out to dislodge Gehlot as CM and take over. He threw down the gauntlet of an open rebellion, defying the party’s instruction to attend legislative party meetings or returning to Rajasthan. His loyalists publicly, and he privately, spoke out consistently against Gehlot. He staked his deputy chief ministership and state presidency in the battle. And he appeared to entertain options of a political life outside the Congress, with some suggesting that he had plans for a regional party.
At the end of the episode, Pilot has not been able to oust Gehlot, who arguably is even more strongly entrenched in his position as CM. Pilot has also lost control of the party organisation in the state — a key source of power. He is no longer deputy CM. His hold over rebel legislators is proven to have been limited, as they were getting restless and wanted to return to the party when it became clear that the Gehlot government may survive.
His expectation that there may be over 30 legislators who would back him did not bear out. And all he has, at the moment, to show for his rebellion, is an intra-Congress committee to examine his grievances. As Congress leaders know, setting up a committee is often a way to provide a facesaver but freeze the problem.
But political lives hinge on hope. And so Pilot will be hoping that the fact that there will be a mechanism to listen to his complaints will give him a new start in the party. He will hope that his linkages with Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi — they enabled his return — will prove to be a source of power in the future. And he will hope that with age on his side (he is only 42) , the Congress’s commitment that his grievances will be addressed will translate into a secure political future in Rajasthan, if not now, then later. What about Gehlot?
The crisis has established Gehlot as a powerful regional leader of the Congress, with formidable control over the party machine in Rajasthan. The fact that he took a clear position against Pilot and the rebel legislators — and kept his government intact — will rank as an achievement.
Gehlot consolidated his legislators, shuffling them between resorts to prevent any defection; he launched an offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and linked Pilot to BJP’s designs; he got Pilot sacked from both the government and as state president and swiftly moved in to take control of the state organisation by appointing a loyalist; he displayed the confidence to call for an assembly session and took on the Governor on the issue; and he managed to keep the Congress central leadership on his side — despite the fact that there was sympathy for Pilot.
These strategies have paid off. Gehlot will survive as CM; he won’t have to worry about Pilot, at least for the time being, becoming a destabilising factor. The CM is understood to have wanted Pilot out of the party entirely — and Pilot’s return may not please him. But this, for now, will only be a minor irritant in a larger win.
And what about the Gandhis? The fact that the resolution happened on August 10 — exactly a year since Sonia Gandhi took charge as president of the party for what was considered an interim period but has stretched — may be just a coincidence. But while Sonia is in charge, it was Rahul Gandhi, who formally stepped away from organisational matters last year, and Priyanka, whose formal mandate does not extend to Rajasthan, who brought an end to the crisis. Their supporters will suggest that this shows the family’s centrality in reconciling conflicts — especially since Rahul Gandhi has been criticised for his inability to do so in a range of other states, where leaders once close to him have left the party.
As the Rajasthan drama ends, CM Gehlot will be smiling — while keeping a sharp eye on his rival, Pilot, to ensure he doesn’t present future challenges. Pilot will be torn between a sense of having failed to achieve his mission, with a hope for a better future with the patronage of the Gandhi siblings. And the Gandhis and their supporters will be happy to see the Congress keep another government back in the party, with no defections, and foiling the BJP’s hopes of bagging yet another state.
THE CRISIS HAS
ESTABLISHED GEHLOT AS A POWERFUL REGIONAL LEADER OF THE CONGRESS, WITH FORMIDABLE CONTROL OVER THE PARTY MACHINE IN RAJASTHAN