The Congress party is once again witnessing a schism in Rajasthan, where Rahul Gandhi is set to travel on his Bharat Jodo Yatra while the camp of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has indicated that the time has come to make the former Deputy the chief.
Hemaram Choudhary, a Rajasthan government minister who is close to Pilot, stated that the party came to power due to Sachin Pilot and that given his hard work, he should be handed the responsibility. “There should be no waiting, the party leadership should decide on it soon, minister Choudhary said. Notably, Choudhary was a member of the Pilot-led mutiny in the Rajasthan Congress in 2020, when 19 MLAs demanded Gehlot’s ouster.
Suchitra Arya, vice president of the State Agriculture Industry Board, also advocated for Pilot’s elevation as chief minister. She said, “If the situation doesn’t change, the party will collapse. Sachin Pilot is an important face and lakhs of people come to hear him. It’s the limit now; he should be made the chief minister.” She stated that if Sachin Pilot is made the CM, only then would Congress be able to reclaim power.
Recently, minister Rajendra Gudha criticized the Gehlot government, suggesting that the current circumstances will lower the number of Congress MLAs to less than ten in the forthcoming elections. Congress MLA Divya Maderna backed Gudha’s comments, which came a day after Pradesh Congress Committee head Govind Singh Dotasra cautioned politicians with legal action if they made imprudent remarks.
The schism between the two factions within the state administration became obvious in July 2020, when rebel Congress politician Sachin Pilot was sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress Chief by the Congress party, which accused him of planning to destabilise the government with the BJP.
This was followed by a month-long enthralling drama, with Ashok Gehlot first disclosing that the two were not on talking terms for the past 1.5 years. The tussle became bitter when the Rajasthan CM lashed out at the rebel leader by calling him “Nikamma and Nakaara (useless).” The show reached its climax with ultimately Sachin Pilot returning to his home turf and conceding before Ashok Gehlot.
Soon, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot informed that a 3-member committee was constituted by the Congress party to resolve grievances with Sachin Pilot. He claimed that peace and brotherhood would always remain in the grand old party. Things got sorted for a while but the differences surfaced again in September 2022.
On September 23, it was announced that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot would run for the presidency of the Congress Party. However, he stated that he intends to stay as Rajasthan’s Chief Minister even if he is elected as the Congress Party’s Chief.
Later that day, Rahul Gandhi stated unequivocally that if a person currently holding a position in the Congress Party is chosen as its leader, that person will resign from his post. With the possibility that Gehlot would have to resign as Chief Minister, the political scene in Rajasthan got frenzied, especially with rumours that Pilot would be the next Chief Minister.
The MLAs who supported Gehlot became irritated as soon as rumours about Sachin’s name surfaced. On September 25, a Congress Legislature Party meeting was scheduled, the second in a week. However, at the last minute, around 90+ MLAs threatened the leadership with resignation if Pilot’s name was confirmed. They wanted Gehlot to remain the state’s chief minister.
After visiting Sonia Gandhi on September 29, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot admitted moral responsibility for the state’s political crisis and withdrew his nomination from the Congress presidential election.
Days after, Ajay Maken, the general secretary of the Congress, resigned from his position as the party’s in-charge for Rajasthan. Makhan was reportedly furious that Ashok Gehlot’s supporters, who were handed show-cause notices for holding a separate Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Jaipur on September 25, have not been punished.
The Rajasthan state assembly election is coming up in around 11 months, and the Congress is in turmoil due to the seemingly never-ending feud between its two key politicians there. Pilot supporters believe a decision will be made before Rahul Gandhi arrives in Rajasthan for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the first week of December, but party strategists doubt this would result in substantial changes.
