We have faith in party high command: Sachin Pilot camp

New Delhi/Jaipur: Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot’s camp has decided not to confront the Rajasthan legislators considered loyal to chief minister Ashok Gehlot and wait for the decision of the party leadership on the new chief minister of the state.

A senior MLA belonging to Pilot’s camp said their strategy is to “wait and watch” and not to “confront” the lawmakers who have opposed Pilot being elevated as chief minister to replace Ashok Gehlot, as and when the veteran politician is elected as the party’s national president. “We believe that the party high command will fulfil its commitment to make Pilot the chief minister and fight 2023 assembly elections under his leadership,” the MLA said.

On Sunday, around 92 of the 108 Congress MLAs considered close to Ashok Gehlot assembled at the house of urban development minister Shanti Dhariwal, who considered himself to be in the race for CM’s post, and decided to oppose the one-line resolution likely to be adopted at the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting authorising party president, Sonia Gandhi, to select the CM to replace Gehlot.

These MLAs claimed to have tendered their resignation from the state assembly to speaker CP Joshi, also a contender for the CM’s post. Post midnight, the MLAs returned home, leading to the cancellation of the CLP meeting. The central observers appointed to oversee the CLP, Mallikarunja Kharge and Ajay Maken returned to Delhi on Monday afternoon.

Pilot camp leaders claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was supportive of Sachin Pilot’s elevation. “Ashok ji is being given a prime national role and Pilot state-specific job to ensure that the Congress returns to power in the state in next elections,” he said.

KL Bairwa, chairperson of Rajasthan Scheduled Caste Commission and a Pilot loyalist, said they will not react to what the Gehlot camp MLAs are saying. “We have full faith in the party high command and believe that the high command will do justice,” he said.

Asked if the rebellion was engineered by CM Gehlot, Bairwa said that it was the chief minister, who had agreed for the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) and as leader of the house, should have ensured that the meeting takes place. “It was CM’s decision to bring a one-line resolution authorizing the party high command to nominate the next chief minister. CM should tell the party high command why it did not happen,” he said.

According to leaders close to Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister has told the party observers, Mallikarjuna Kharge and Ajay Maken that the MLAs were not under his control. “They are angry that a group which had rebelled against the party in 2020 was been given preference and the 102 loyal Congress MLAs were being ignored,” said a leader considered close to Gehlot.

On this, Bairwa countered that if this was the Gehlot camp’s view, why were five MLAs from the Pilot camp inducted into the cabinet and some of them, including him, made chairpersons of boards and corporations in Rajasthan. “Ashok ji accepted five MLAs as ministers in the cabinet. This clearly shows that we are part of the Congress and the government,” he said.

Previously, Pilot said that the 2020 rebellion was not against the Congress but against the “autocratic” functioning of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Then Gehlot had called Pilot “nikamma (useless)” and in 2022 clarified that it was just a case of a senior scolding a young leader and should not be taken literally.

Nevertheless, Gehlot and Pilot have rarely been seen together after the 2020 rebellion even though they were at the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi in Kochi on September 22.

Another lawmaker close to Pilot said both Gehlot and Pilot discussed the smooth transition of power with Rahul Gandhi in Kochi and it appears that the entire rebellion has been engineered to prevent Pilot from becoming the CM. “It is a clear defiance of the party high command by Gehlot camp,” the third MLA said. He added that Pilot will meet senior party leaders in New Delhi to brief them about Sunday’s events in Jaipur.