Editorial: On a different flight path

Among the younger generation, there is no one who matched Pilot for his political intelligence, hard work, and sobriety, attributes that marked him out as possible prime ministerial material in the distant future. If he has raised the flag of revolt, it is almost certainly because he felt compelled, even coerced, to make such a drastic move. Whether it will pay him political dividends is too early to tell. But there is no doubt, it will cost the Congress dearly.

The drama is still in the making. But with Pilot claiming that the Ashok Gehlot government has lost its majority in Rajasthan, another gaping wound has opened up in a party struggling to deal with a myriad of issues, including a lack of leadership, the absence of a coherent strategy, and the presence of a mix of ideological and existential quandaries. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, perhaps predictably, has blamed the entire incident on the Bharatiya Janata Party. While the BJP is not above fishing in troubled waters and going well beyond the rulebook in playing toppling games, what is really needed is for the Congress to introspect how things came to such a pass. The Gehlot-Pilot rift goes back a long way. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s decision to overlook the latter’s good work in rebuilding the party and defeating the BJP in the 2018 Rajasthan Assembly elections, by handing over the chief ministership to the former was a controversial and possibly unwise decision. After all, the Gehlot-led Congress had lost the 2013 Assembly elections; in 2019, there is no discounting that the victory owed in no small measure to Pilot’s sustained organisational work, apart from his youthful image.

With Pilot and MLAs loyal to him staying away from the Rajasthan Congress Legislature Party meeting, and with Gehlot supporters tearing down posters that carry his image, the rift has only widened. While it is a matter of speculation exactly how things will play out, one thing is certain. That since Pilot has come so far, he has reconciled himself to the possibility of pulling out from the party. Whether he will join the BJP or merely pitch for its support in forming a government are not clear at the time of writing.

But what the Congress needs right now is to take stock and reassess the leadership of the Gandhis. Mrs Gandhi cannot remain a reluctant working president forever and her son Rahul Gandhi has displayed very little political acumen to demonstrate he is fit to reclaim the job. A Congress without the Gandhis is prone to the risk of infighting and coming apart in fractious squabbles. But how different is this from what is happening now, with the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia followed closely by the seemingly imminent departure of Pilot? The status quo looks increasingly untenable but what we know for sure is that it will bring a change. And at least a glimmer of hope that something positive and reinvigorating may emerge from it.