PILOT FACES TURBULENCE
The occasion was sombre, yet politically significant. Members of the Gujjar community had reached Pushkar, about 150 kilometres west of Jaipur, on September 12, to take part in a mass meeting and pay tributes to Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla, the man who gained a manner of iconic status after leading the agitation to demand special reservation for the community in Rajasthan.
But what was expected to be a show of strength for Gujjars—who can influence election results in at least a dozen eastern seats of the 200-member assembly—was marred by ugly scenes. Two cabinet ministers belonging to the community were heckled by the crowd. Shoes flew in the air, as did imprecations. The fissures that lay revealed centre upon the figure of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, almost an undisputed leader of the Gujjars in Rajasthan. The community, of course, has rarely had a sole leader, until Bainsla, a retired army officer, took it upon himself to unite them about a decade and a half ago for the special status agitation. But even he had failed to translate that into political benefits. Fighting on a
BJP ticket in 2009, he lost the Lok Sabha election by a whisker.
Long before he passed away this March, Sachin had filled that vacuum by emerging as a popular leader of the community. Named Rajasthan Congress president in 2014, he played a pivotal role in the party’s win in 2018 and was sworn in as deputy CM. However, an attempted coup against CM Ashok Gehlot in 2020 cost him both the posts. Now, after divisions within the party have become public knowledge and with the stakes rising as each day brings election closer, the rivalry between the two leaders has roiled the waters so much, it’s looking like a free-for-all, where Sachin’s claim to the mantle of community leadership is being set up to be challenged. The shoes in the air were apparently a
response to that, and their symbolic target was one of the new kids on the block: Ashok Chandna, a polo player, two-time MLA and ex-Youth Congress chief who was once backed by Sachin but has since switched camps. At 38, he’s not only the youngest member in Gehlot’s cabinet but speaks with the airs of a challenger to both Sachin and Gehlot.
Bainsla’s ashes were to be immersed at Pushkar, a holy site for the Gujjars. Chandna was invited to the event by another upcoming face, Vijay Singh, 51, son of Bainsla and himself a BJP member. The speeches soon started taking a political colour, with the crowd cheering whenever BJP leaders spoke. (The Gujjars face a curious political choice: whether to go with saffron or back Sachin, who they see as a potential CM.) At any rate, things took an ugly turn as soon as Chandna began to speak. Then, a section of the
Congress leaders, including Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) chairperson Dharmendra Rathore and the chief minister’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot, left the event.
SACHIN PILOT, WHO HAD ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS AN UNDISPUTED LEADER OF GUJJARS, IS FACING A CHALLENGE FROM WITHIN RAJASTHAN CONGRESS
crowd booed industries minister Shakuntala Rawat as she got up to speak. Slogans hailing Sachin were also heard. With the situation getting chaotic, Rawat preferred not to comment, while Rathore, without naming anyone, said the “hooligans” couldn’t have dared to heckle ministers “without backing”. Chandna, a firstgeneration politician who seems to enjoy some high command backing, is giving it back in full measure. He has accused Sachin’s supporters of targeting him for two years, and threw an open challenge. “If Sachin can become CM by getting a shoe thrown at me, he may well do that soon, since I am not in the mood to take him on. The day I join the fight, only one of us will survive, and I don’t want that,” he wrote on Twitter. “It was the high command’s decision to make Gehlot the CM. Like a true Congressman, I just obeyed it,” he says, calling the Pushkar incident “pre-planned”.
Sachin, who senses the throne is again within reach as Gehlot preps to contest the party presidential poll, is staying silent. BJP leaders are exploiting the rift to the hilt, saying Sachin’s supporters are angry at the Congress for denying him the CM’s post. The Gehlot camp sees in this “evidence” that the BJP is still in touch with Sachin. The latter’s aides call all of this an attempt to divide the Congress in the run-up to polls. Either way, Pushkar highlights the sharp divisions among the Gujjars, and heralds a phase of rivalry as leaders attempt to secure their turfs. For Pilot, it means a fresh set of challenges. ■