It took senior Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Rajasthan Sachin Pilot more than two hours to cover a distance of less than 5 km to reach the Returning Officer’s office to file his nomination papers on October 31, as the streets of Tonk overflowed with his supporters reaching out to him as he passed by in an open truck decked with marigolds. He sat down for an interview with The Hindu minutes after filing his papers.
Excerpts:
Polling is just 25 days away; what are your expectations from this election? Will the trend of alternating power between the BJP and Congress break this time?
The political situation is shifting both nationally and in the State. People have seen the performance of the BJP-led government in Delhi after giving them two clear mandates. In Rajasthan, the BJP has been very ineffective. They have failed to be a responsible Opposition both within the House [or State Assembly] and outside. The BJP is not getting any traction from the voters. And given the fact that we have worked hard and are now unitedly facing the electorate, I feel that we have a very good chance of retaining power and breaking this 30-year-old trend. More so because we are getting strong tailwinds from Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh where we will do exceedingly well.
This is your second Assembly election; how different is 2023 from 2018, considering that in 2018, you were leading the party in the State?
I was the State president in 2018. I had got five full years to work, I was able to cultivate a new leadership in Rajasthan, which is the need of the hour. We mustn’t forget that when we went to polls in 2013, Congress was in power, but we could win only 21 seats, which was our lowest-ever performance. It was a challenging time [between 2013 and 2018]. I was given this challenging task and it took five years of real toil. When we went to polls in 2018, people were writing us off but we came back and formed the government. This time again we have a government and we are determined not to let a repeat of 2013 happen. But we also have to do things differently this time.
Is Ashok Gehlot the Chief Ministerial candidate for the Congress?
I don’t think the party has ever announced a Chief Ministerial face. In 2018, when I was the State president, we didn’t go with any one face, we worked as a team. And the elected MLAs passed a one-line resolution authorising the leadership in Delhi to take a call on who will become CM. I see absolutely nothing different happening this time.
The five years of the Congress government were marked by an intense power struggle between you and Mr. Gehlot. Have all the problems you flagged been resolved?
In politics, there are no individual problems. The problem was not about me, him, or xyz. It was about things that I felt were important to raise. And I am glad I did and the party took cognisance of it. For example, the paper leak issue that I spoke about. It is a very sensitive issue that impacted more than 1.5 crore people and was putting the future of youth at risk. After I raised the issue, the AICC [All India Congress Committee] mandated the State government to pass a new law which prescribes life imprisonment for the guilty. The other issue I raised was about the cases of corruption during the previous BJP regime. That needed to be taken to the people. BJP is unfortunately playing the reverse game now, blaming us for corruption. Which is completely untrue, their own people are steeped in massive corruption cases. At the right time, we should have been able to expose them. But the party has recognised those issues. When I met [Congress president Mallikarjun] Kharge and [former party chief Rahul] Gandhi, they said to me that the clock can’t be turned back and now one must forgive, forget, and move forward. Today, the people of India need the Congress party to perform, because we are going through unprecedented times, where inflation is touching the skies, the BJP hasn’t delivered on any of its promises, the agriculture sector is at the brink of collapse and there is a widening gap between the rich and the poor. People are looking for an alternative. And that alternative is the INDIA coalition. But for INDIA to perform well, the Congress has to succeed in 2024 general elections. And for the Congress to succeed, it has to win the five Assembly elections. And therefore we have a bigger responsibility here and can not be reduced to individual likes and dislikes.
But your objection was also about the Congress cadres who worked to bring the government in 2018 not being accommodated in the power structure. Have they been accommodated now?
Nobody can ever be fully satisfied, but yes, when I raised the issue, the AICC took cognisance and took several steps. Every worker needs recognition, a pat on the back, and a shoulder to lean on. If you can provide that, the organisation can be strengthened. You can’t make everyone a Minister or a corporation chairperson, but you can certainly give them respect. We have had Congress governments before, but we haven’t been able to repeat the government. Unless the worker standing at the polling booth feels a strong affinity for the party, they will not fight with the commitment required to win the people’s mandate.
Ignoring the anti-incumbency factor, the Congress has repeated a significant number of sitting legislators. Won’t this prove detrimental to your electoral performance?
I have always said that we have to give space to younger people and fresher faces. This is the same feedback that I gave to the party when my views were sought. Ultimately, the decision lies with the AICC, who they decide to field. One has to take political calculations into consideration in making such decisions. So if someone is an MLA for two or three terms, just to disregard that person’s candidature in all cases may not be politically prudent, because these MLAs may not work that enthusiastically for the party if they are denied.
