Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

By
Sahiba Ahluwalia
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Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot was in conversation with ThePrint’s Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta at ‘Off The Cuff’ in Mumbai. Pilot, who is also the president of Congress’ Rajasthan state unit, spoke about how the party needs to build a new narrative and allow local leaderships within states to develop. Pilot also spoke about how PM Narendra Modi needs to be more inclusive in his governance, how there needs to be more dialogue between different political parties, and how his own differences with Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot don’t affect the state’s administration.
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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

From left: Sachin Pilot, deputy CM of Rajasthan; Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief, ThePrint

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

From left: Dr. Shailesh Raina, urologist; Ayaz Memon, sports writer

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

Sanjeev Kapur, managing partner, Ushma Kapur & Associates, wanted the Congress leader to comment on the current state of India’s economy and the three most important things that he may want to see.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

The Congress should allow local leadership to develop as too much control from the state or the Centre can result in a lack of initiative on the part of local leaders, said Sachin Pilot. The full report

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

Deepak Sethi, management consultant, Solutions QED, wanted Pilot’s comment on the narrative that one of the reasons the economy is not doing well is because there is excessive control and clampdown.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

“What I did in Rajasthan was I made sure that my district leaders were fully in power. They had the powers to do anything. If they wanted to oppose the government’s policy in one district, they took that call. If you give that autonomy to your local leaders, they perform,” said Pilot, who is also Rajasthan Congress president.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

“You sound like a senior manager strategising in the boardroom, especially when you gave the analogy of an organisation versus Congress. Many more in your party must have similar analysis. When do we see that change?” asked Dr Minu Mehta, a professor at IESMCRC Mumbai.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

At the event, Pilot praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being a “hardworking man”, but added that he needs to be more inclusive as a prime minister.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot


“Initially you had a difference with Gehlot. Has that been resolved now?” asked Girish Agarwal, non-executive director, Dainik Bhaskar Group.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

“If every political party, every leader thought and acted the same way, there would be no plurality,” said Sachin Pilot.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot


“If you were to do a post-mortem analysis, why didn’t your win in the 2018 state election translate into a similar victory in Lok Sabha elections?” asked Nihal D. Chauhan, senior manager – global corporate affairs, Tata Sons Pvt Ltd.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

From left: Yatin Shah, co-founder & executive director, IIFL Wealth & Asset Management; Sachin Pilot

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

Sachin Pilot with ThePrint team after the discussion.

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Off The Cuff with Sachin Pilot

Kailash Surendranath, ad filmmaker; Sunil Alagh, MD, SKA Advisors Pvt Ltd engaged in a deep conversation at the event.