Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia: Kissa deputy chief minister ka

NEW DELHI: Two of the recently elected state assemblies, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, are getting a second-in-command to the chief ministers at the end of a keenly fought battle among strong contenders for the top post—Sachin Pilot has already been sworn as deputy CM in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh is set to get one after Jyotiraditya Scindia turned down the post. Not surprisingly, there is a sudden renewed interest in and curiosity about the deputy CM. What powers does the person have, who does the deputy CM really report to, what happens when both the CM and his deputy are leaders with mass appeal and influence with the party high command, and what are the factors that go into the making of the decision? TOI digs out a little bit of the history surrounding the precedent and the people...

NOT THE FIRST TIME RAJASTHAN'S CHIEF MINISTER-DESIGNATE ASHOK GEHLOT WOULD HAVE A DEPUTY CM

When Gehlot headed the state government from 1998 to 2003, he had two deputy CMs — Kamla Beniwal and Banwari Lal Bairwa. Unlike Congress state president Sachin Pilot, who would assume the deputy CM's role from the first day of the new government, Beniwal and Bairwa were appointed to the office at the fag end of the Congress government in 1998-2003.

WHY GEHLOT HAD TWO DEPUTIES IN 2002-03

In Lok Sabha elections that year, Congress had performed poorly in Rajasthan. The opposition BJP won 16 seats, while the Congress had to be content with just six seats in the state that elects 25 MPs. Wary of a similar result in the 2003 state elections, Gehlot reshuffled his cabinet and appointed two deputy CMs months before the polls.

“Gehlot knows that caste plays an important role in Rajasthan politics. Beniwal, a senior Jat leader, and Bairwa, an important neta for the SC community, were made deputy CMs to achieve a better caste balance in the Congress government right before the 2003 state polls,” said a Congress veteran. The changes, made barely 10 months before the assembly elections, did not yield the desired results though. In the ensuing state polls, not only the Congress, but also the two deputy CMs were defeated and BJP came to power with Vasundhara Raje as the chief minister.

BUT THERE WERE PRECEDENTS...

The Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government in Rajasthan from 1993 to 1998 also experimented with the deputy CM theory, meeting the same fate. BJP insiders recall that an ageing Shekhawat, who had undergone two bypass surgeries and faced a revolt by his ministers, was directed by the party's central leadership to groom his successor in Rajasthan. Shekhawat picked Hari Shankar Bhabhra and made him the deputy CM. “Shekhawat picking Bhabhra, who was seen as one of the architects of the revolt against him, had surprised BJP leaders. But Bhabhra lost two successive elections after that and many still believe it was Shekhawat’s sweet revenge,” said a BJP office-bearer.

Before that, in 1952, Rajasthan’s first deputy CM was Tikaram Paliwal of the Congress. In the state’s first elections held in 1951, CM candidate Jai Narayan Vyas had lost the poll. Paliwal, who had won from Mahuwa (Dausa), was then made the CM. Vyas, however, won a bypoll in 1952 and got the CM’s post which was vacated by Paliwal, who remained the deputy.




DIFFERENT LEADERS, DIFFERENT STROKES

CMs can have deputy, one or two, due to various reasons ranging from the compulsion to run a coalition -- Sushil Modi in Bihar owes his appointment to that -- to the need to balance caste equations (in Uttar Pradesh both Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya have got their positions to settle factional equations). The reason why a reluctant Gehlot had to appoint Pilot could be the same.

Power and influence of deputy CMs also vary, and because of different reasons. They run the risk of being reduced to mere ministers -- the grand-sounding designation notwithstanding -- if they are not influential in their individual capacities as representative of a coalition partner or a powerful social constituency or, for that matter, don’t have the backing of central leadership . Portfolio/s that one gets to handle plays a very important role.

In Maharashtra, Gopinath Munde, as deputy to Manohar Joshi and, later to Narayan Rane in the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition, enjoyed considerable clout because he was was the BJP's representative who had the leadership's confidence (also because he happened to be the late Pramod Mahajan’s brother-in-law), was an OBC and had been assigned the home portfolio that CMs ordinarily loath to part with. Pilot will end up in that category because many factors look to be working for him.

Across, in Bihar, despite being a powerful leader, Sushil Modi is constrained by his ‘mild personality' and has allowed a more dynamic Nitish Kumar -- much to the chagrin of his BJP colleagues -- to dominate the alliance government.

Meanwhile, in UP, Maurya is believed to be more powerful than Sharma because he is the BJP's OBC face, enjoys the backing of the central leadership that recognises the role the community has played in BJP ‘s revival in the state. Plus, he can be assertive.

AND THE CLOUD OVER THE DEPUTY PM

Controversy arose in 1989 when Devi Lal took oath as deputy PM (not a constitutional post) in the VP Singh government, audaciously altering the oath for Cabinet minister being administered by then President R Venkataraman.

The same year, Devi Lal’s oath was challenged in the Supreme Court by one KM Sharma alleging that the Haryana leader had not taken oath as prescribed in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.

Then attorney general Soli J Sorabjee defended Devi Lal and the apex court on January 9, 1990 decided in favour of the deputy PM.