In October it bubbled out on the surface, in November it spilled the beans, in December will it spoil the game? The saga of Rajasthan Congress infighting is getting complicated every single day with new jibes coming from either of Ashok Gehlot or Sachin Pilot camp.
The recent controversy that erupted with chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s ‘Gaddar’ comment targeting Sachin Pilot may wreak havoc for the party in the coming days as the Bharat Jodo Yatra is about to enter the state in early days of December. The yatra will stay there for 15-18 days and will culminate with an expected grand rally at Alwar.
However, with the ‘mudslinging’, as Sachin Pilot calls it, going on, will the Yatra be a successful event? Prior to the recent comments of Gehlot and response by Pilot there have been several happenings that may push the response to an uncertainty. The recent statement of senior Congress leader and the communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh that the differences between Gehlot and Pilot will be resolved in a way that strengthens the Congress party though is giving some hopes to the state level leaders, the real struggle will be to get both of these camps united during the Yatra.
Jairam Ramesh while clarifying the current objective of Congress said, “Right now it is the duty of each and every Congressman and Congresswoman to make the already hugely successful Bharat Jodo Yatra even more impactful in north Indian states.”
The statement of Ramesh somehow came as an assurance to the MLAs and workers. Divya Maderna, a first time MLA who belongs to the known political family of Parasram Maderna and has been prominent with his fierce criticism, told Outlook, “Look, already Jairam Ramesh has given statement and said that the issue will be resolved soon. I personally don’t belong to any camp but I believe that as the central leadership has taken up the issue, it will come to an end before Rahul Gandhi comes to the state with Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
Saying that she has always been at the forefront whenever the interest of the Congress is compromised, the MLA from Osian constituency said, “I have been a fierce voice within the party and I have always said that the interest of the party stands first. And even in this case I stick to it. I believe whatever is done will be done in the interest of the party only.”
Divya whose grandfather had been a forerunner to become Rajasthan Chief Minister in 1998 when Ashok Gehlot was inducted to the post, has been vocal since she won the elections in 2018. Following the indiscipline in the proposed Central Legislative Party (CLP) meeting prior to the Congress presidential polls where MLAs from Gehlot camp protested against the presumed elevation of Sachin Pilot as the CM of the state, Divya gave a history lesson to Gehlot. Citing that the agenda of CLP meeting was not disclosed and the MLAs were called to reach CM’s house only, she said that as per the conventions they should have followed the order and violating it amounted to indiscipline.
Last week, as the former state-in-charge of Rajasthan Ajay Maken’s letter to the AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge stating his intent to be relieved from the duty took media to the storms, Divya said, “A man with self-respect will have no other choice but to quit in such circumstances. That’s what Mr Maken did.” Ajay Maken in his letter expressed his displeasure on the inactions of the high command on the show-cause notices issued to the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal, party Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) chairman Dharmendra Rathore over their alleged role in the ’indiscipline’ that rocked Rajasthan Congress and led to Gehlot’s withdrawal from the presidential race. Notably, Maken was also there in the CLP meeting waiting for the MLAs along with Malikarjun Kharge.
However, even Maken’s letter couldn’t heal the injury that the Congress has been carrying with. Within a week Vijay Singh Bainsla, a senior Gurjar leader threatened that he would not let the Bharat Jodo Yatra pass through their regions unless Sachin Pilot is made the Chief Minister. The leader of the Gurjar community that has around 6% population in the state and formidable dominance in 40 assembly constituencies also added that in 2013 the party was reduced to 21 seats but people voted them back to power in 2018 with the expectation that they would fulfil their promises among which one is to make a Gurjar CM of the state. Sachin Pilot, an aspiration for the Gurjars, nevertheless distanced himself and said that the Yatra will be a huge success in the state despite BJP’s efforts to stall it.
The situation since the indiscipline at the CLP meeting has not been at all in favour of Congress. On November 2, Sachin Pilot certainly took a jibe at Ashok Gehlot for Prime Minister’s praise to him. PM Modi while sharing stage with Gehlot in a government function said that he as a CM had worked with him when the later used to be the senior most amongst all. In this context, Pilot brought in reference to Ghulam Nabi Azad who left the Congress party allegedly a few months after PM Modi’s praise in Parliament and said that the matter is “interesting”.
In this critical scenario will Bharat Jodo Yatra be a success? Divya Maderna is highly optimistic about the outcome. While speaking to Outlook she said, “I joined the Yatra in Maharashtra and now today, I am going to Madhya Pradesh. I can’t tell you the ground level excitement the people do have. Rahul Gandhi knows the pulse of the grounds and he has been working untiringly. Rajasthan is a Congress-led state, so definitely, it will be a huge success and, on the ground, people are too excited to join and participate.”
Pledging that Congress will get out of all the crisis soon, the youth leader told, “We are under no circumstances going to bow down to BJP. We will confront the divisive ideology of the Party from the ground.”
Outlook however tried to reach the MLAs from the Pilot and Gehlot camps but has not yet received any response. Sources said they had been internally asked to not communicate to the media unless any official resolution is reached.
