The BJP’s arrogance gave way to a sense of desperation. We in the Congress knew there was no way we were losing this battle, because we had worked for it.
The recent by-elections in Rajasthan that the Congress won weren’t just a fight against the BJP. We had to take on the might of the state government, which had put everything it had into wooing the people on voting day.
We did not do any grandstanding or lavish events because we were short on resources. But what we did do was to take the battle to the polling booth, and keep a very tight control on the deployment of leaders, right to the panchayat level. We had more than 500-600 senior people deployed in each constituency, managing their own panchayats and blocks. There was a method to what we did; a lot of research went into it. We ran a programme called ‘mera booth, mera gaurav’, and I think it was important that we focussed on each village panchayat and city wars.
Since the Vasundhara Raje government took oath and I took charge of the Rajasthan Congress, there have been eight by-elections – including four at the start of the term. We’ve won six of them.
BJP’s arrogance
Vasundhara Raje’s government got a brute majority in the 2013 assembly elections – 160-odd MLAs out of 200. The BJP also won all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in 2014. The government took this mandate to mean it can do whatever it wants. That sort of arrogance seeped in right at the beginning of the term.
But this time, I sensed a bit of desperation, especially in Ajmer, from where I had been an MP in the past. Vasundhara Raje focussed a lot on it – she over-deployed resources, put dozens of MP, MLAs, party office-bearers both national and local. I realised that if she were confident and knew that the government’s work would be appreciated, BJP leaders wouldn’t have to resort to attempting to polarise the voters especially in Alwar.
She even started doing caste-based meetings, which I thought was a clear sign of desperation. She would meet Rajputs at 10 o’clock, Jats at 12, Vaishya at 1, Gurjars at two, Brahmins at three, and so on. This sort of segregation and wooing of communities was caste based politics at its worst. It seemed like a last resort.
More importantly, I had gotten feedback from across the state, from every district and every section of society – and no section of society was happy with the BJP govt. If you notice the result, both the parliamentary seats have eight assembly segments, and generally, you find that the winning candidate gets a majority in five or six segments. But we’ve won all 16 assembly segments in Ajmer and Alwar – rural and urban.
From the moment we started touring and campaigning, we knew we were going to defeat the BJP.
United leadership
It was a collective effort from all our leaders. Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, the former MP from Alwar, Dr C.P. Joshi and Ashok Gehlot, both general secretaries of the All India Congress Committee – we all campaigned, we all went together for the filing of nomination papers. We campaigned together, and individually.
One or two individuals cannot swing elections. It has to be a collective effort, and as Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president, I appreciate the effort that everyone put in. They are all very tall leaders, and their contributions really helped. Rahul Gandhi became president of the party just a month ago; his confidence in the state congress gave us the motivation and strength to forge ahead.
On the policy front
Rajasthan is primarily an agrarian state, and all of our efforts have been to alleviate the farming community from the distress it is in. I have been an MP for 10 years, and a minister of the government, and a lot of our work has been towards the farming community. I have worked for farmers’ issues when I was in Delhi, and now in Rajasthan as party president. That has really been the most important focus for us. There are other aspects to our politics also, but the issues of the farming community will remain pivotal to me and my politics.
The BJP’s propaganda – that mythical ‘election-winning machine’ that it was portraying itself to be – well, that myth has been laid to rest. The BJP can and will be defeated. That is the reality.
I keep saying this – elections can’t be won in the last two weeks of campaigning. You can’t just turn up at the last moment and expect to win elections. It has to be a sustained effort through the years and months. You will then endear yourselves to the people. Campaigning is the penultimate bit, the real work is done much before that. You can’t expect that when “chunav aa gaya”, churn the issue up, have a few meetings, and think people will vote for you. You have to consciously work toward attracting the voting community to you by your work and labour.
Morale boost
The Rajasthan results have given a big boost to the morale of party workers across the country. The Congress organisation is strong, but it needs to be motivated and galvanised further.. In places where we have a strong presence, we must use it to its full potential. We accept this win with all humility and promise to work even harder for the people of Rajasthan.
Sachin Pilot is president of Rajasthan Congress and former minister of IT, telecom and corporate affairs in the UPA government.
(As told to ThePrint journalist Priyamvada Grover.)
Sachin Pilot has won his spurs. He should be declared the party’s CM candidate at this moment, not during the campaign, as Captain Amarinder Singh was. The tragedy with the Congress is that it is an old zamindaari party. Once in power, it will do what it always has, the coteries will be back. In MP, it should be Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ashok Chavan in Maharashtra.