Pilot-Congress ‘thaw’ can’t mask their troubles for long

When the future of the party’s generals remains uncertain how is a mutiny to be quelled?

The mask on the face is an excellent metaphor as India sees two crises at hand. One involves, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic that seems to go on and on. The other is the one in the Indian National Congress, often called the Grand Old Party.

As it turns out at this moment, the latter looks more old than grand as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's steamroller Bharatiya Janata Party seems to be cruising with high popularity ratings, never mind the pandemic, a persisting drag on economic growth or the plight of migrant workers.

Any sign that the Congress party is trying to crawl out of the mess it got into after Modi's arrival as PM in 2014 must involve a strange cocktail of hope, love and optimism. One such sign is in headlines about the Rajasthan dissident leader, Sachin Pilot, reportedly being in a "thaw" with the party’s national leadership -- Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi -- after a bitter, ugly confrontation with state chief minister Ashok Gehlot.

We have to read between the lines now. And it would take a generous dose of optimism to conclude that the troubles are over for the Congress in Rajasthan, or that Sachin Pilot, as some reports say, has accepted Rahul Gandhi as the boss in ending his rebellion.

Congress’ leadership woes

This is especially difficult to swallow given that the Congress’s conditions remain unaltered since its 2019 LS debacle. Sonia Gandhi is still the "interim" president of the party and Rahul Gandhi, despite his frequent videos cheered by party ranks, is only an MP from Wayanad. Tut-tutting noises and murmurs of "we need a leader now" by party seniors only symbolises the restlessness about the vacuum in leadership in a party that is historically famous for steadiness at the top and fractiousness at the bottom rather than the other way around. When the future of generals remains uncertain how is a mutiny to be quelled?

This makes the thaw between Pilot and the Gandhis a shaky one. Nevermind the picture of Sachin Pilot and Priyanka Gandhi posing with masks in what appears to be a visual image of reconciliation. No wonder that Sachin Pilot's Tweet after meeting Rahul Gandhi only promises that he will work for a "better India" – not restricted to a better Rajasthan or better Congress. Are we reading too much into this? We have to. Pilot's words are terse though he thanks the Gandhi siblings for their thaw-inducing meetings.

Uncertain future

But beyond that many things remain unresolved. Consider the fact that Pilot's rebels, as some reports suggest, need to be pacified with plum postings. They are in a significant minority in the Rajasthan Congress legislature party. We have to see how Gehlot, who only the other day described Pilot as a shirking “nikamma” (useless fellow), kisses and makes up; or how he practises the Congress party's famous virtue of tolerance within its own party ranks where the nuisance value of emboldened rebels can be significant.

Gehlot's outburst against Pilot in which he lashed out at everything from the 41-year-old leader's good looks and English skills is a rare event in the party. It is difficult to imagine a truce without a take-back or apology of sorts from Gehlot on the kind of stuff he has said about Pilot. Gehlot says he will hug the rebels if the party leadership wants but it is difficult to imagine a warm working relationship.

Either we have had an internal agreement in which Sachin Pilot will be co-opted by the party high command for a national-level role, or he is himself keeping that option open in case his loyalists are not placated and his own wounded pride not given some soothing balm at the very least. His words are well measured.

Pilot's personality, and I would argue talent, training and temperament, is not that of a simple state-level leader. Showing Pilot his place in Rajasthan as the Numero Duo after ugly wranglings is like throwing bread crumbs to a hungry lion. It won't last.

The fractured nature of the Congress countrywide and the context in which the Rajasthan crisis has played out is such that we have to take this slowly.

As they say, watch this space.

(The writer is a senior journalist who has covered economics and politics. He tweets as @madversity)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.