The decision of celebrity poll strategist Prashant Kishor to stay away from the Indian National Congress has done anything but comforted the Rajasthan CM and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot. Amid the strong political buzz that Congress’ Sachin Pilot might take over the reigns of Rajasthan ahead of the elections next year, CM Ashok Gehlot this week refuted the claims and said that the citizens should not believe in the ‘rumours’.
This is days after Congress leader Sachin Pilot met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi and discussed his future role in the state. According to the reports, he talked about how the party needed to break the trend and return to power in the state of Rajasthan. “Certain steps need to be taken to further strengthen the party,” he had stated on April 21.
Congress President is very keen that we all work unitedly to form a govt in Rajasthan again. I’ve been giving her my feedback regularly. Today we also spoke about organisational elections, how to strengthen the party: Sachin Pilot, Cong pic.twitter.com/Zug19wIVie
— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2022
Gehlot on April 23 then had mentioned that he had given his permanent resignation to Sonia Gandhi on the day he had become the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. He said that Gandhi would decide whether to keep him or remove him from the position and that when that happens, people won’t even get a hint. He said that the speculations of Pilot taking over the control of Rajasthan were just ‘rumors’.
My resignation permanently with Sonia Gandhi: Ashok Gehlot on leadership change in Rajasthan
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) April 23, 2022
Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/XF2fEGB2E6#Rajasthan #Congress #AshokGehlot pic.twitter.com/chXU4MuZ7Q
Reports mention that the Pilot camp in the state of Rajasthan is struggling more since poll strategist Prashant Kishor has refused to join the Congress party. Kishor had suggested the Congress party focus upon and give chance to young leaders of the party. Kishor’s entry into Congress would have helped Sachin Pilot to create a big political change in the state.
Kishor’s expectations from the Congress party were simple. He wanted to handle the entire process of communication and messaging, he wanted the party to lead alliance talks with regional parties and wanted the party to focus on the Lok Sabha election 2024. However, the two failed to crack the deal because of the absence of strong leadership and a weak, uncharged local Congress cadre. The Congress wanted Kishor to focus on the state assembly elections scheduled this year and the next year.
Prashant Kishor in his presentation said that Congress party should focus on 370 Seats. Congress should fight alone in UP, Bihar & Odisha. In Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra, Congress should fight in alliance. Rahul Gandhi agreed to the points of Prashant Kishor: Sources
— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2022
The deal also is said to have failed as Congress wanted Kishor and not his company, the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC). IPAC to date has helped many political parties including Janata Dal (United) in Bihar, Trinamool Congress in Bengal, Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party to win the elections.
Meanwhile, Gehlot’s relief over Kishor’s refusal to join Congress was also highlighted by state technical education minister Subhash Garg who tweeted that ‘the party needs a Chanakya, not any trader or service provider. Only leadership and workers can make an outfit strong”. Garg has been closely associated with Gehlot for past many years.
किसी संगठन को मज़बूत व ताकतवर केवल नेतृत्व व कार्यकर्ता ही बना सकते हैं ,कोई सलाहकार व सेवा प्रदाता नहीं ।नेतृत्व को चाणक्य की ज़रूरत है न कि व्यापारी की ।
— Dr. Subhash Garg (@drsubhashg) April 26, 2022
However, Sachin Pilot’s camp in the state of Rajasthan has stated that Pilot will not stop fighting, he will not give up his political space for any ‘lollipop’. “Pilot’s political space is Rajasthan and he knows that leaders who give up their roots don’t retain political importance”, the report quoted. The next Rajasthan legislative assembly election is scheduled to be held in or before December 2023 to elect all 200 members of the State’s Legislative Assembly.
