Rajasthan: Time is running out for the Congress high command to resolve the Gehlot-Pilot rift

Former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot (left) and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. (File photo)

The ruling Congress in Rajasthan remains on the edge. A whole week after the party high command tried to broker peace between its “Top Two” in the election-bound state, details of the peace formula remain elusive. As suspense and speculations dominate Congress corridors, the truce between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot last Monday seems as fragile as a newborn baby.

With the Congress top brass failing to spell out the contours of the “peace proposal” to resolve the Gehlot-Pilot tussle, an air of uncertainty hangs over the Grand Old Party in Rajasthan. A week after they met Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, there are more questions than answers, despite KC Venugopal’s claim that the warring duo had “decided to fight elections unitedly.”

Was the smiling Gehlot-Pilot picture with Venugopal just a photo-op? Was the Delhi meet mere optics or will some concrete steps be taken to resolve the deadlock? Will Gehlot-Pilot be able to work together or is a break-up now inevitable?

Besides Congress leaders and cadres, the people of Rajasthan are waiting for answers to these lingering queries. Amid the party high command’s keenness to project a united face ahead of assembly polls, it must be remembered that the Gehlot-Pilot pictures last week was the first occasion when the duo were spotted together since the Bharat Jodo Yatra exited Rajasthan in December.

A day after the projected unity in Delhi, Gehlot hoped that he and Pilot would work together but also obliquely advised his young rival on the need for “patience”. But as Pilot loyalists point out, patience is exactly what Gehlot and his lobby lacked last September when the party leadership asked him to become Congress President and hand over chief ministerial reins to Pilot. The well-orchestrated revolt and resignations by pro-Gehlot MLAs then had only deepened the Congress crisis in Rajasthan.

But by May 31, Pilot again struck a discordant note. On a trip to his constituency in Tonk, Pilot asserted that “no compromise” was possible on his demands. Though his tone was not as aggressive as earlier, Pilot insisted, “Corruption and the future of the youth – on these two issues it is not possible for me to make any compromise…I feel action should be taken against the allegations of corruption and the youth should be given justice.”

The May 30 deadline of Pilot’s “ultimatum” has come and gone but there’s still no sign of any concrete action by the Gehlot government on his demands. Despite the high command striving to end the infighting, the animosity of the two sides for the past several months is not easy to patch up. The Delhi meet came after an ugly slugfest over the past month where the two bigwigs indulged in brinkmanship and their supporters became increasingly belligerent. A Congress meet in Ajmer even saw a scuffle between Gehlot-Pilot loyalists a fortnight ago.

Given the bitter backdrop, it’s no surprise that a “peace formula” remains missing. Reasons for the delay are causing intense speculation and depending on which faction you meet in the Rajasthan Congress, you get a different answer. While Pilot loyalists insist that Gehlot is blocking all proposals as he’s not interested in resolving issues, Gehlot supporters claim Pilot is unreliable and does not deserve any key post. Saner elements say it will be announced after Rahul Gandhi returns from the US.

While rumours and speculations abound, a big buzz has erupted in the last few days that Pilot may be forming his own party on his father’s death anniversary on June 11. Political circles in Delhi and Jaipur are abuzz that Pilot is consulting election strategist Prashant Kishore’s I-PAC and may finally float a new party on his father’s death anniversary function in Dausa. Pilot has made no announcements so far but some political pundits claim he is now preparing a final exit strategy.

As the Grand Old party dithers and the Gehlot-Pilot tussle simmers, it is worth recalling that last year Rahul Gandhi had called both leaders as “assets for the Congress party”. Sadly, it seems the two “assets” now see each other as liabilities for their political ambitions and their rift has turned intractable. Though the party high command and Congress supporters want a reconciliation, chances of the two biggies burying the hatchet seem less than likely. A rift that Sonia Gandhi could not resolve seems rather unlikely to be settled in the Kharge era.

So will brinkmanship now move towards a final breakup that could dent Congress prospects? Or will there be some face-saver for effective power-sharing to patch up the schism and prevent a further slugfest till the upcoming elections? Pilot’s rally on June 11 could clear the suspense and finally end the long wait that currently grips the Rajasthan Congress.