By Anil Sharma If there’s one idiom that best describes Sachin Pilot, the Congress party’s Rajasthan chief, it is ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’. Pilot, who will turn 41 in September, was handed command of the party in the state nearly four-and-a-half years ago after the Congress suffered historical defeats in the 2013 assembly elections and lost all 25 seats up for grabs in Rajasthan in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Congress workers were demoralised and dispirited in the aftermath. It was Pilot who decided to tour the state, India’s largest geographically, taking it upon himself to motivate party workers by meeting them regularly. The young politician has also tried to maintain cordial relations with senior party leaders like former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Union minister C.P. Joshi. The success of such efforts are matters of debate. But Pilot has always maintained that the stories of a rift between him and senior leaders have been spread by the BJP. Pilot has also been quick to rubbish reports of factionalism and infighting within the party in the state, saying he has been fortunate to get support and guidance from the Congress’s senior leaders.
Bypoll renaissance
Despite some initial hiccups, under the guidance of All India Congress Committee secretary and Rajasthan in charge Avinash Pande, the Congress put up a united front in the recent bypolls for the Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats, and the Mandalgarh assembly seat, winning all three. In fact, since Pilot took charge, the Congress has won four of the six assembly seats that have gone to the polls. In the 2013 assembly election, the BJP got over 45% of the vote share and the Congress just over 33%. In the by polls, however, the Congress has exceed the vote share, thanks to Pilot’s efforts. As the parties gear up for the assembly elections later this year, Pilot has taken the lead over the ruling BJP in jump-starting the Congress’s campaign. He has travelled thousands of kilometers and attempted to strengthen booth management by organising state-wide ‘Mera Booth Mera Gaurav‘ programmes. Under Pilot and Pande’s leadership, the Congress has devised many strategies for the upcoming polls, including door-to-door canvassing. Pilot has said this exercise is mainly aimed at reaching out to voters and to inform them about the partys policies and programmes. We have decided to reach out to as many people as we can before polls, Pilot said. Clearly he is willing to sweat it out to achieve this aim. In fact, on many days he is known to have travelled to two or three different cities (the average distance between two cities is about 250 kms in Rajasthan).
Leading the opposition
Pilot has been very vocal in his criticism of the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in the state. Besides organising agitations against mining corruption, the law and order situation, and drinking water issues, he has gone all out to flay the government, which he says has failed on all fronts. Pilot’s criticism of the government has spanned actions such as the stopping of social welfare schemes and the lynching of two persons allegedly by cow vigilantes in Alwar. He maintains that the ruling BJP has lost credibility and lost faith of the people, and is confident that the Congress will come back to power in the state. Does this mean he will become chief minister? I am a worker of the party and I presently have been given responsibility to strengthen the party in the state, which I am trying to do. Who will become chief minister is for the party legislatures and party high-command to decide, Pilot says.
Anil Sharma is a political analyst and senior journalist.