Congress leader and former deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, who has been at loggerheads with CM Ashok Gehlot since 2020, said that it is the decision of the party’s high command to decide who would lead the state if the party comes to power in the upcoming Rajasthan elections.
The desert state goes to polls on November 25 and counting of votes will be held on December 3.
He added, “My first and foremost objective and priority is to deliver for the Congress party the state of Rajasthan which for 30 years has not had a repeat government. That is my focus. I am not looking at what I can or cannot get.”
When asked if he saw a chance to become the CM, if majority of tickets went to Ashok Gehlot’s followers, the former deputy CM said, “I think it is wrong to say that anybody is anybody’s follower. We are fighting the election on the hand symbol. And the decisions on candidates are taken at the AICC level. There are surveys and other inputs…after seeing all that the party takes a decision on who will get the ticket or not at the level of the Central Election Committee (CEC). It is not a question of followers of X, Y or Z. We are all fighting as Congressmen.”
In July 2020, Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs had revolted against Ashok Gehlot’s leadership. The month-long rebellion ended with the intervention of the party’s high command. Later, Pilot was removed as the deputy CM and the state Congress president.
Pilot, who was the state party chief in 2018 and led Rajasthan to victory, said that the winning election is a “collective effort”.
“We have a state Congress president, we have a Congress Chief Minister but we all work in team spirit and it is the collective will and the collective of the party that will deliver the victory for us. So we all are equally committed to making sure that the Congress wins the coming elections,” he said.
“Because there is a lot of disunity in the other party, the BJP, and people tend to compare two organisations in a bipolar contest. So the effort is to take all stakeholders along. It has been the initiative of Rahulji (Rahul Gandhi) and Khargeji (Mallikarjun Kharge). I also feel that in the last 30 years we have not been able to repeat a Congress government,” Pilot said.
With the dismal performance in 2013, when the Congress were reduced to 21 seats, which was its worst performance since Independence, Pilot said that it took a “lot of effort” to spring back to the majority.
“So, now I feel that we can break that trend. That will happen when everybody is equally, fully committed to delivering the state for the Congress. When I say this, I speak for all the top leadership of the state Congress,” he said.
Hitting out at the BJP, Pilot said that the saffron party has been a completely “ineffective” Opposition within and outside the Assembly.
“For four-and-a-half years, they were completely invisible as Opposition and they have not been able to be a responsible Opposition party. Now they are trying to take out yatras…but there is no traction for yatras. So there is definitely a lack of purpose and commitment from the BJP,” he said.
‘Congress will buck the trend’: Sachin Pilot
He also expressed confidence that the state, which hasn’t voted back a sitting government to power in three decades, the Congress party will “buck the trend” this time, adding that the party looks good to even win Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which goes to polls along with Rajasthan in November.
“The mood has changed. We won Himachal Pradesh, we won Karnataka. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are looking extremely good for us. So we hope to get the tailwinds from the momentum and buck the trend. I think we are heading towards getting a clear majority for the Congress,” he said.
Since 1993, the BJP and the Congress have taken turns to rule the state. In these 30 years, Ashok Gehlot (Congress) has been the chief minister thrice, Vasundhara Raje (BJP) twice and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (BJP) once.
In 1977, barring the Janata Party’s victory, Rajasthan politics was dominated by the Congress till 1990. The BJP had won the 1990 elections under Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, but the term was cut short due to the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition and the subsequent communal violence. In 1993, the BJP again formed the government under Shekhawat, the only instance when a party repeated its electoral performance.
In 1998, the Congress won, bagging 153 seats, under the leadership of Ashok Gehlot. In the subsequent elections in 2003, the BJP bagged 120 seats, while the Congress bagged 56 seats.
In 2008, the Congress came to power with 96 seats and the BJP with 78. Gehlot returned as CM with the help of Independents. In 2013, the BJP came to power under Vasundhara Raje.
In the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections, the Congress secured 99 seats, while the BJP won 73 seats in the 200-member house. Ashok Gehlot returned as CM with the support of BSP MLAs and independent candidates.