PILOT's GHARWAPSI

PILOT CRASH LANDS INTO CONGRESS

जान बची तो लाखो पाए, लौट के बुद्दू घरको आये |

Much like the 'Buddu' who felt grateful for having escaped death in whatever misadventure he had embarked upon, Sachin Pilot should be relieved that the Congress agreed to take him back nearly a month after he had launched a revolt against the CM Ashok Gehlot. It is difficult to judge who is the ultimate winner in the short-lived rebellion that once threatened to destabilize the regime in Jaipur; is it the Gehlot who not only got rid of his bitter rival but also managed to save his government or was it former CM Vasundhare Raje who stood her ground against the inclusion of Pilot Jr in the saffron ranks and showed her influence in the state BJP. What is clear though is that the ultimate loser is the young leader from Tonk. Not only was he stripped of his position of the being the second-in-command in the state government, he has also lost the position of the president of Rajasthan Congress. 

In what was more than a symbolic reflection of the changing times, the former Deputy Minister was made to sit in the corner in the state assembly as he along with his former 'brothers-in-arms' voted to the save the very same government that they had vowed to overthrow. Pilot Jr. though put a strong defence, claiming that the strongest soldiers are sent to guard the borders. However, the sad reality for the young Turk is that apart from losing his ministry and the party presidency, he has lost the one thing that matters the most in the grand old party, the trust of the Gandhis. This was the ultimate fall from grace for a leader who was believed to be a close confidante of former INC chief Rahul Gandhi. The home coming is going to be anything but easy for him; he is going to be a marked man, every move of his, is going to be looked upon with suspicion and Gehlot & Co. will only be waiting for him to keep a wrong foot to finish off whatever is left of his political career within the INC. 

Now that he is no more than an 'ordinary worker' in the Rajasthan Congress, the former Corporate Affairs minister should spend considerable amount of his time contemplating what went wrong for him. One thing though is quite clear, he grossly over estimated his strength. After all, he could only muster the support of 18 MLAs, much less than his initial estimate of 30 that would have put pressure not only on the Congress High Command to take him seriously but also entice BJP to overrule Raje and try to woo him. In fact, across the length of the whole episode, it was evident that Sachin was mostly on the defensive, largely reacting to the agenda that CM Ashok Gehlot was setting. This is certainly not a trait of a strong regional satrap that Pilot aspires to be.

The former MP now has to start from scratch and work very hard to regain his lost political fortunes. At 43, he has still a long way to go and can afford to make mistakes. The whole imbroglio should remind Sachin Pilot that politics is more often than not, a game of numbers. It is now up to him to see how he can resurrect  himself from this debacle and emerge as the strongest Congress leader within Rajasthan. But then, that only seems possible as of now, once Ashok Gehlot hangs his boots.