JOIN USRajasthan reverberates with Gujarat, HP poll results
The Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh poll results have reverberated in Rajasthan, where the assembly elections might be a year away, but a battle for succession is on within the Congress. The results have sparked another round of war of words between the supporters of Rajasthan CM Minister Ashok Gehlot and his challenger, his former deputy, Sachin Pilot.
The Congress tally in Gujarat, where Gehlot was the party observer, dropped from 77 seats in 2017 to just 17. In Himachal, where Pilot was the observer, the party won 40 out of 68 seats and formed a government, its first since 2018.
Rajasthan Congress leader Sushil Asopa, a Pilot loyalist, pointing to the Himachal win, said it was time the party should hand over responsibility to the younger leader. He tweeted that the Congress couldn't win in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, but Priyanka Gandhi and Sachin Pilot defeated BJP in BJP national chief J P Nadda's home state. Vikram Singh, Congress leader and state president of Bharatiya Kisan Union's youth wing, tweeted addressing Rahul Gandhi, "If Congress wants to save Rajasthan, then bring Sachin Pilot."
Reacting to Congress' loss in Gujarat, Pilot told the media, "Gujarat tally was lower than expected whereas the Himachal results indicate that if the party deploys the right strategy, we can defeat the BJP." In contrast, Gehlot credited Congress' Himachal victory to its promise of restoring the old pension scheme, good ticket distribution and canvassing by Priyanka Gandhi.
Congress Gujarat in-charge Raghu Sharma, the MLA from Kekdi in Rajasthan and former health minister, resigned after taking responsibility for the party's loss. The party's Gujarat campaign had centred on the Gehlot government's welfare schemes in neighbouring Rajasthan, such as its health insurance scheme, farm loan waiver and decision to return to the old pension scheme and other initiatives.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Rajasthan)