Disregarding the Congress high command’s stern warning, which said his protest is “against the party’s interests and is anti-party activity”, former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot sat on a day-long dharna in Jaipur on Tuesday to press for action against corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje-led government in the state.
Pilot on Sunday held a press conference and accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of colluding with Vasundhara Raje as the CM had failed to take any action against the latter in graft cases.
Pilot even played old video clips of the chief minister where he had slammed Raje on graft issues. Pilot was clear when he asked: “Why has the Gehlot government not initiated any probe on graft issues related to the excise mafia, illegal mining, land encroachment, and the Lalit Modi affidavit case?”
As he sat on a day-long hunger strike, it was clear that Pilot remains unfazed by the warning of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Rajasthan, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa late on Monday night.
Randhawa had said any such protest against the state government would amount to anti-party activity and go against the party’s interest. But, Pilot still launched his fast.
And Pilot has a reason for remaining unfazed as already many are supporting him. Even Gehlot’s minister PS Khachariyawas did not shy away from supporting Pilot’s stand.
On Sunday, Khachariyawas told news agency ANI that Sachin Pilot is an asset for the party, and if he is raising some questions, then his questions should be respected. Khachariyawas also said that he respects both Gehlot and Pilot, and is not against either of them.
Senior Congress leader and Chhattisgarh Health minister TS Singh Deo, too, supported Pilot’s posturing. He said that Pilot is within his limits and has not crossed any Lakshman Rekha. “This (hunger strike) cannot be construed as going against the party. There should be probe into Raje’s graft cases.”
Taking to Twitter, Aam Aadmi Party’s Vinay Mishra said that there is a Raje-Gehlot nexus that exists. “And now even a Congress leader says that they are hand in glove and are running their own government. They are cheating the citizens of Rajasthan, and I urge the people of the state to support a young leader like Pilot who is opposing the Gehlot-Raje alliance.”
But, the million dollar question now is— what is Pilot’s plan?
Political scientists say that it is a well-known fact that at the root of his grouse against Gehlot is, of course, his chief ministerial ambitions. One set of analysts suggests that Pilot will not quit the Congress, adding that the move is an attempt to pressure the party high command to resolve the leadership issue ahead of the year-end polls.
Another set of analysts believes that Pilot may be on the verge of quitting the Congress. Now that Pilot has defied the party diktat, the rift has widened between the Congress high command and the young leader.
The buzz in political corridors is that Pilot may be heading towards the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the party is looking to make a name for itself in the state. At a meeting in Jaipur last month, AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too accused Gehlot of inaction over corruption cases in the state.
The BJP, meawhile, may find it tough to accommodate Pilot given its own problem of plenty as far as chief ministerial aspirants, former CM Raje, Union Mister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to name a few.