ALL HEAT, NO DUST

The Gehlot-Pilot tussle is again on the boil, but political constraints prevent both from drastic moves

- SONI MISHRA

While Congress leader Sachin Pilot camped in Delhi hoping to communicate his grievances to the party’s central leadership, his name began trending on Twitter. A hashtag created by his supporters, #JahanPilotWahanHum, topped the micro-blogging site. A reason for the trend was Jitin Prasada—a restive, young Congress leader like Pilot who, days earlier, had finally decided to cross over to the BJP.

In fact, on the morning of June 9 when Prasada was preparing to join the BJP, word had spread about a prominent Congress leader from north India joining the saffron party. Many wondered if it was Pilot. Like Prasada, Pilot had been a member of ‘Team Rahul’, a group of young leaders led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Once seen as the party’s future leadership, they are now unhappy with the present state of the organisation.

Prasada’s defection has put the spotlight on Pilot, who has long been locked in a power tussle with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Pilot has a long list of grievances, which he says have remained unresolved. His patience is wearing thin.

Discontent in the Congress’s Rajasthan unit had been gaining strength over the past weeks. Veteran party MLA Hemaram Choudhary, known to be close to Pilot, recently resigned from the assembly, and a few Pilot loyalists complained that the Gehlot government had neglected their constituencies. Almost a year after peace was brokered between Gehlot and Pilot, there was palpable restlessness in the Pilot camp. It culminated with Pilot openly complaining about the party high command’s unkept promises.