JOIN USCongress high command faces desert storm in Rajasthan
The Congress leadership has achieved an unenviable feat. It has turned a fierce loyalist into a combative chief minister. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has again signalled that it would be trouble for the party if it entertains any idea of replacing him with his detractor in an election year. Once his deputy in the government, Sachin Pilot is like a red rag to a bull for Gehlot.
Such extreme emotions are not associated with 71-year-old Gehlot, known in party circles as a Gandhian and a clever and calculated player of realpolitik, qualities that have helped him helm the desert state for 15 years after Sonia Gandhi gave him the opportunity for the first time in 1998.
Gehlot is a magician in the art of politics, as Sonia Gandhi, the then Congress president, learnt two months back when moves to change Gehlot as the CM before him getting elected as her successor backfired. Her impression was that Gehlot would accede as her most loyal follower. Rahul Gandhi felt that it was the right time to put Pilot, his close associate, in the driver's seat in Rajasthan. Both were widely off the mark.
All hell broke loose some two months back when Rahul, on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, spoke of one man-one post rule amid plans to make Gehlot the Congress president. The Rajasthan CM instantly smelt a rat. The rebellion by his 100-odd supporting MLAs was not a fluke. It was to signal to the high command that a smooth transfer of power in Rajasthan was possible only by keeping Gehlot in good humour. It meant that the leadership should avoid Pilot.
Gehlot's logic was: "When a Chief Minister is changed, 80-90% [MLAs] leave him and switch sides. They turn to the new candidate. I, too, don't consider it wrong. But it was a new case in Rajasthan where the MLAs got agitated just in the name of the new chief minister." It was Gehlot's style of absolving himself of any blame in the rebellion against moves to make Pilot his successor.
At that time, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the CM would be changed in a couple of days. Some two months have passed since then. Then, Gehlot apologised to Sonia Gandhi for the rebellion by his supporters and took moral responsibility for the indiscipline.
Gehlot's latest attack on Pilot, branding him "gaddar" (traitor), who cannot be made the CM, indicates that he would go to any extent to stop such a development. He is angry that despite his protests, the moves to make Pilot his successor have not stopped.
In an interview, Gehlot had termed Pilot as a 'gaddar' (traitor) who cannot replace him as he had revolted against Congress in 2020 and tried to topple the state government, drawing a sharp response from his former deputy who said such "mud-slinging" would not work.
A leader of the old guard, Gehlot, was brought into politics by Sanjay Gandhi. These leaders are known to be part of the so-called Sanjay Brigade. Some project the 45-year-old Pilot as a dashing young leader who worked hard as the PCC chief to bring the Congress back to power in 2018. There is also a section in the Congress that claims Pilot has more supporters in the Delhi media. The truth lies somewhere in between. Rajasthan watchers had witnessed long back that Pilot, while attempting to overthrow Gehlot as CM, had virtually crossed to the BJP's side.
Gehlot's latest attack signals a possible full-scale war in the Congress in the desert state if the high command fails to rein in the warring leaders and bring about a truce. High command's disapproval of the harsh words by Gehlot is aimed at mollifying an agitated Pilot.
But it remains to be seen what 'tough decisions" the Congress leadership takes to resolve the crisis in Rajasthan. This is easier said than done, as Gehlot is no pushover and promoting Pilot beyond a point has serious pitfalls.
A change in Rajasthan is also complicated if not arrived at amicably. In the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, senior minister T S Singh Deo has an old political rivalry with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and has been seeking the chief minister's post under a purported power-sharing agreement. Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan go to polls next year.
Earlier this year, Congress lost power and faced a rout in Punjab in the wake of the gross mishandling of party affairs in the state. Charanjit Singh Channi, who was made CM by replacing Amarinder Singh, lost both his Assembly seats, and similar was the fate of Navjyot Singh Sidhu, whom Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had made the PCC chief.
With the Bharat Jodo Yatra set to enter Rajasthan soon, the political crisis has re-erupted, putting Rahul Gandhi in an embarrassing situation. The goodwill and the stature earned by the young leader through the long walk are at stake. It might be the first crisis since Mallikarjun Kharge became the Congress chief, but all eyes will be on Rahul on how he resolves the Rajasthan knot. A meeting of the Congress steering committee is also scheduled soon. What Rajasthan is witnessing is not a storm in a teacup. It will require all the tact, skill and patience to avoid another Punjab. Can the man who has started on the mission of Bharat Jodo be able to "jodo" (unify) his party?
Rahul Gandhi might have said that both Gehlot and Pilot are assets of the Congress, but it is to be seen how the opposite ends are brought together ahead of the Assembly polls, which are not far away.
(The writers are senior journalists)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.