New Delhi: A week since the Congress in Rajasthan was thrown into a crisis, the tussle between Chief Minster Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot is yet to be resolved. Pilot’s actions are his message to party command that he has been dissatisfied with the power distribution. However, it has also led to speculation of BJP interference.
We asked reader’s this week: Was Sachin Pilot’s revolt justified?
‘Sachin Pilot is doing India a favour’
Pilot’s revolt against Gehlot was right as he looked to assert his imprint on Rajasthan’s governance after having steered the Congress to power in 2018. He is also doing India a favour by revitalising a mainstream opposition party, by claiming a slice of the Congress pie usually dominated by loyalists of the family. This refreshes the party’s ideals to be with its original, popular core — Abhimanyu Hazarika, Dibrugarh, Assam. Twitter handle: @AB_Hazardous.
‘Pilot’s revolt was long coming’
The question should be: Are Sachin Pilot’s ambitions justified? Three-time CM Ashok Gehlot was 34 years old when he was first made Union minister. By the age of 47, when he started his first stint as CM, he has experience dealing with three different Union ministries. It is ironic when people argue that “Pilot should wait for his turn”. Sachin Pilot was the driving force in Congress’s 2018 assemble election victory and thinks that he deserves a promotion. So his ambition is justified, and his revolt was long coming. This is just another example of Congress’s non-existent top leadership’s failure — Bhishek Manek, Santa Cruz, California. Twitter handle: @bhi99.
‘Pilot is not Scindia or a non-dynast leader, revolt is unjustified’
The Congress culture has essentially evolved around dynasts. Other parties also have nepotism, but the problem is deep-rooted in Congress, stemming from the central leadership. Sachin Pilot is a stakeholder in this. Having said that, it’s equally important to know that he worked tirelessly in building, resurrecting and bringing the party to power in Rajasthan. Though the chief ministership went to Gehlot, who is more experienced and promised Lok Sabha seats to the party, Pilot did become deputy CM. Thus, comparisons to Jyotiraditya Scindia are not fair since Scindia was totally sidelined by the Kamal Nath-Digvijay duo. So, I think, Sachin Pilot’s revolt was not much justified in comparison to Scindia and much more unjustified in comparison to non-dynast leaders in the Congress — Rutvik Paikine, Akola, Maharashtra. Twitter handle: @RutvikPaikine.
‘Pilot’s timing is despicable given the ongoing pandemic’
Regardless of Pilot’s right to claim the CM’s post, the time that he chose for revolting is inappropriate. As the battle against the dreaded pandemic unfolds, Pilot could have proved his mettle by focusing on tackling it by utilising government mechanisms. If he wasn’t getting that space, he could have pointed it out. But, choosing to publicly revolt and topple the elected government is a despicable act. It’s not in line with the fair democratic practises — Paul Thomas, Ernakulam, Kerala. Twitter handle: @paul_thomas_ind.
‘Timing and manner of revolt reflects poorly on Sachin Pilot’
Considering all the issues at hand — Congress’ urgent need for structural and leadership change, the long-standing tussle between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, and other factors — this is certainly not serving any purpose. Given how it has become a peculiar pattern for the political class to turn their backs on responsibility and the public at large, the manner and time at which this is playing out reflects poorly on Sachin and everybody involved. His future in the long-term in Congress is fairly decent as it has been all this while — Khushi Barman, Jaipur. Twitter handle: @khushib_.
‘Pilot should’ve waited more patiently’
People don’t turn into leaders when everything is good, it happens when conditions aren’t good. Amidst this pandemic, Pilot should have focused more on residents of state, even if it was simply to gain more popularity for the next election. A man praised by every section of politics shouldn’t end up throwing himself in the kind of chaos where all horses are running to get noticed. All I believe is one must work and wait patiently — Syed Ali Ashraf, Lucknow. Twitter handle: @pehle_aap.
‘Scindia set the precedent, Pilot was a domino waiting to fall’
Every organisation has a structure and hierarchy which allows its workers to grow based on their performance in a stipulated time frame. The same principle applies to political parties. Based purely on merit and results, Pilot delivered the elections in Rajasthan and served well, yet the Congress party preferred the “old school” loyalty, proving it is repellent to change. The abrupt shift of Scindia served as a dangerous precedent for the party. Sachin Pilot’s revolution was a domino waiting to fall, giving a clear message — radical politics is the only solution to reform the Congress party — Sarthak Ghoshal, Kolkata.
‘Pilot was a bonus for Congress, party high command failed’
What Sachin Pilot did was completely justified. A leader who worked for the party on the ground for more than four years, was state president for about six years and led to an election victory in a tricky state was completely side-lined by the CM of the state. Any leader of such stature would be compelled to take the tougher road in a situation like this. This shows the state of Congress party and complete failure of the party high command. A leader of Pilot’s calibre and a well-recognised face like him would be a bonus for Congress to have, however it appears that they are willing to make sacrifices rather than trying to solve their internal conflicts — Raja Reshav, Patna. Twitter handle: @rajareeshav
‘Decision to deflect was Pilot’s, doesn’t matter if BJP had something to do with it’
Long gone are the days of politics of ideologies. We have entered the era where politicians are no longer taking efforts to hide their self-centred politics. Individual gains in politics are dangerous, yet have become important. Sachin Pilot is also a dynast politician. His aspirations must be important to him. He does hold a clean image as opposed to the norm of having a parade of charges against a politician. The revolt does seem aspirational than ideological. Whether BJP had something to do with it or not, I believe is redundant. The decision to defect was Pilot’s. Are these individual aspirations so important that the entire state in the middle of the pandemic comes to a standstill? How in this age and time, when there is an existential crisis for the entire human race, can politicians be so immature and not keep their egos in check — Dr Swanit Deshpande. Twitter handle: @swanitdeshpande
‘Sachin Pilot should have learned more patience from his father Rajesh Pilot’
It is good to be ambitious but revolting against your family can’t be justified. Sachin Pilot was the head of the Pradesh Congress Committee. He was also deputy chief minister. If he was unhappy with anything, he could have called a meeting of PCC to try and resolve the issue. In politics, loyalty and patience are great virtues and they always deliver in the long run. Sachin Pilot is the future of the Rajasthan — nobody doubted this. Sachin Pilot should learn from his father Rajesh Pilot who fought and lost the party presidential elections against Kesari, but never betrayed the party. He always tried to strengthen the party and later on got rewarded in the P.V. Narasimha Rao cabinet — Ramendra Mishra, Bhopal. Twitter handle: @Ramendra1212.
Also read: Congress’ 1970-style treatment of young leaders won’t work. It can learn from BJP