CO-PILOT RETURNS
The ongoing political drama in Rajasthan has finally reached its denouement. After a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, former PCC chief and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot is back in the Congress fold with his pack of dissident MLAs.
It is unclear whether Pilot, who was sacked from his two posts – that of Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief -- will be reinstated as part of the "ghar-wapsi" formula. Removing Gehlot as Chief Minister, which Pilot had demanded all along, was "out of the question," sources said.
With truce being declared, the political crisis ought to blow over for Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during the trust vote, thereby bringing to naught the month-long manoeuvres of the BJP to oust his government by engineering defections.
As a part of the reconciliation, party president Sonia Gandhi has ordered that a three member committee be formed to look into Pilot’s grievances and address them. As a part of this exercise, Pilot and his loyalists met AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi later in the night. K C Venugopal and Ahmad Patel were also present during the meeting.
‘‘I wanted to raise issues related to party and governance, so that we live up to the promises that we made when we came to power. The party gives posts and the party can take back posts. I do not have any longing for posts but I wanted that respect and self-respect be maintained. I am in politics for the last 18 – 20 years and have worked for the party.’’
Priyanka, who has played a proactive role throughout the crisis, was able to persuade Pilot to sink his differences with Gehlot.
Earlier in the day, too, she had a crucial meeting with Pilot; later, she was closeted with Rahul Gandhi for over an hour to discuss the modalities of the patch-up. In a candid discussion, Pilot had placed some of his demands before the party leadership, the most prominent being that Gehlot be replaced. However, Rahul Gandhi reportedly did not agree to this. To assuage the brewing sentiment, some MLAs of the rebel faction will instead be given ministerial berths in the Gehlot government. It will give Sachin the political leverage that he desired. The only MLA conspicuous by his absence in Pilot faction’s meeting with Priyanka was senior legislator and MLA from Sardarshahar Bhanwarlal Sharma. Sharma had reached Jaipur ahead of the developments that were taking place in Delhi and met Gehlot at his official residence. Speaking to the media after the meeting Sharma said, “I have had a cordial meeting with the chief minister. I have appraised him about my grievances and received an assurance that the development works I want will be undertaken in my constituency. ” With a ‘face-saver’ in place, Pilot and his supporters are expected to reach Jaipur late in the night and expected to meet chief minister Gehlot on Tuesday morning. Pilot has put full faith in the party leadership and its assurance that it will address his grievances in the coming days after the trust vote is secured. A senior Congress leader said Pilot had realised that he was skating on thin ice as some of his loyalists were ready to break away and were in touch with Chief Minister Gehlot. Also, some among his group of 18 MLAs may prefer to return to the party fold as none is ready to quit to float a nondescript forum. Pilot got in touch with Priyanka on Sunday on being told that she would be otherwise not available for three weeks as she is leaving for Himachal Pradesh. With the groundwork done, sources said CM Gehlot would now be brought into the picture to seal the peace deal. They said Gehlot has already taken a public posture that he will accept whatever solution is offered by the party leadership.