Sachin Pilot Is Not A Novice To Fall On His Knees In Such An Abject Manner
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-08-12 13:39:59
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The Sachin Pilot saga ended in a tepid anti-climax, the kind that makes a big-budget movie crash at the box office. After weeks of defiance from the Pilot camp and extreme provocation, intemperate statements and distasteful actions from the Gehlot camp, the matter has ended, for now, with Sachin Pilot making a reverse turn and returning to the fold.
The uneasy truce (about this, later in the article) was reportedly brokered by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra in a meeting with Pilot. The first meeting with the Gandhis (which reportedly went on for two hours) was followed by another with Priyanka, Ahmad Patel and K C Venugopal in which all rebel MLAs were present. It was easier to bring Pilot back as Priyanka Vadra was in touch with him regularly for the last 15 days.
But this seems to be a face-saving exercise for the Congress and it seems that a band-aid has been put where a surgery was required. One says so because although Pilot has made the right conciliatory noises after the meeting, none of the issues raised by him have been settled yet. It remains to be seen how Ashok Gehlot, who is still in Jaisalmer with some MLAs, welcomes his nikkamma and nakara colleague back to the turf which he considers to be his own, exclusively.
There is no doubt that it is an uneasy truce that will result in a huge loss of face for Sachin Pilot if things do not move his way from here onward. While it has been reported that neither the change of leadership in Rajasthan nor the question of the posts (deputy CM and PCC chief) from which Pilot was removed was discussed in the above-mentioned meetings, they will always remain the bone of contention if Pilot wants to salvage some pride.
A truce of this kind was also brokered by Rahul Gandhi in 2018 immediately after the Congress won in Rajasthan. Then, too, the Pilot camp wanted their leader to be the chief minister after a punishing campaign that brought in the numbers. But Rahul somehow managed to pacify Pilot with the deputy CMs post. Things did not turn out the way Rahul wanted and this is clear from the astonishing statement by Gehlot that he was not on speaking terms with Pilot since 2018. The stalemate continues even now as Gehlot has not uttered a single word in the two days that Pilot has come back.
All things considered, this is not the end of the story. Season 2 of the saga is definitely in the offing. Sachin Pilot is not a novice to fall on his knees in such an abject manner. There must have been some inside deals that have not been made public. The Congress has tried not to humiliate either Pilot or Gehlot. But equilibrium between the two is impossible to achieve as of now, given the state of their relationship. One of them will have to give way. Keep tuned in to witness how Sachin Pilot counters the wiles of Ashok Gehlot, now from the inside and probably with the help of the high command.
