Desert Storm

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot is known to be a cool-headed politician—one not prone to betray his sentiments in public. Wily, back-channel political machinations had always been his forte. These facets of Gehlot have held him in good stead for the past 45 years of his political journey, allowing him to artfully sideline equally worthy competitors. Yet, over the past fortnight, as his government teeters on the brink of collapse in the face of Sachin Pilot’s rebellion, Gehlot has had two intemperate outbursts.

Earlier this week, Gehlot thrashed Pilot as a leader who went from being a Lok Sabha MP at the age of 26 years to becoming the deputy CM by the time he was 40 years old. “Mere good looks and command over English and Hindi don’t make you a leader; you need commitment and ideology too,” the CM, often mimicked by detractors for his near-­absent English skills, said of Pilot. Days later, he described Pilot as a “nakara aur nikamma” state Congress president.

Gehlot’s verbal assault against Pilot, who continues to claim the support of 18 Congress MLAs in his bid to dethrone the third-term CM, came amid frenetic attempts by a section in his party to ­contain the rebellion, and broker a truce between the warhorse and his bête noire. Sources said the party high command asked Gehlot to hold his punches.

A section in the Congress, surprisingly comprising some key members of the party’s infamous old guard, are still keen on pacifying Pilot. A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court, which heard petitions by Pilot and his loyalists ­challenging Speaker C.P. Joshi’s disqualification notices to them, reserved its order in the matter till July 24.

While this breather to Pilot gives him additional time to sort out his future course of action, leaders in the Congress who are sympathetic to the son of the late Rajesh Pilot believe this period should be utilised to make fresh overtures of peace. After all, Pilot hasn’t been publicly critical of the party or its first family—Sonia, Rahul or Priyanka Gandhi—as yet and has maintained that he has no intention to switch to the BJP.

Publicly, the CM maintains that he would “give Pilot a hug and accept whatever the high command decides” if the 42-year-old amends his rebellious ways. However, a close Gehlot aide tells Outlook, “a rapprochement is impossible”. Gehlot’s loyalists believe Pilot has been “misguiding” the Congress high command all along. “Pilot says he remains a Congressman, then why is he not coming for talks with our leadership? His legal team comprises lawyers close to the BJP; his MLAs have been locked up in a hotel under police protection in a BJP-ruled state. What are we to make of this?” wonders Rajasthan minister Govind Singh Dotasra, who replaced Pilot as the state Congress chief.

Congress sources admit that the ongoing political drama will go on for a while longer. “Whichever party gets an adverse order will challenge it in the Supreme Court,” says a senior Congress leader, adding that though Gehlot is preparing for a floor test to establish his majority—he still claims of have support of 109 MLAs in the 200-member assembly—the BJP will continue to use Pilot for destabilising the government. To successfully wade through the storm, Gehlot will need to rediscover his composure that had previously helped him survive the political heat of the Thar.