Defiant Sachin Pilot goes ahead with fast, draws no action from Congress brass

JAIPUR/DELHI: Defying the party’s warning that his dharna will be viewed as “anti-party activity”, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday went ahead and observed a daylong fast protesting the “inaction” of Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on corruption charges against his BJP predecessor Vasundhara Raje.
The protest grabbed media headlines and national attention, but drew no action from the Congress leadership. The party is said to be upset with Pilot’s decision but, sources said, the lack of sound and fury from the young leader as well as absence of any controversial comments beyond the demand for action on graft, has somewhat mitigated the matter. However, Pilot has declared that his “movement” will continue.
There is an expectation that Pilot will come and meet Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, during which he may also be asked about the “transgression”. Till it happens, a lack of action will be viewed as serious loss of face for the Congress brass, which went to the extent of warning Pilot on the eve of his dharna.
The most intriguing bit was that the AICC informed the reporters on Tuesday afternoon that Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh will issue a statement on the Rajasthan issue, which never materialised.
For Congress riven with the dilemma of how far to go in confronting its defiant but “indisputable asset”, especially when it is beset with desertions and defeats, the issue of action has crossed the minds of party leaders. But most have counselled restraint. Sources said while Pilot for many months has been insisting on mediation only by the Gandhi siblings, he, on Monday, reportedly committed to AICC state in-charge Sukhjinder Randhawa that he will meet Kharge.
For the second day, Congress rebuffed Pilot’s charges of inaction into BJP’s corruption by saying that Gehlot is investigating the multi-crore “sanjivani scam” and BJP’s role in luring Congress MLAs during the 2020 revolt — an indirect jibe at Pilot who had led the rebel flock. Both the probes involve Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat. Many in the AICC feel that Pilot’s attack on Vasundhara, who is angry at being sidelined in BJP, and is rumoured to have an equation with Gehlot, benefits the saffron party.
After holding the fast from 11 am to 4 pm at Jaipur’s Shaheed Smarak and ending it by accepting ‘prasad’ from religious leaders, Pilot told reporters that he went ahead with the fast “only for the purpose of taking action against corruption”. He said his movement against corruption will continue. “We had assured people that effective action would be taken against corruption by the former BJP government in the state. I wanted the Congress government to take action on the corruption charges,” he said.
About the charge that he had not raised the issue in the party, he said, “if it were about the organisation, I would have talked to the organisation. For the whole year I had been demanding action from the CM”.
While quiet, Gehlot responded to Pilot, as if acting in tandem with the AICC. Like Congress on Sunday reacted to Pilot’s announcement of dharna by lauding Gehlot’s initiatives, which have “profoundly impacted” the common man and which will form its election plank, the CM himself on Tuesday launched a video of his vision to make Rajasthan the country’s top state by 2030.
Earlier, Pilot and his supporters arrived at the fast venue after paying obeisance at the statue of Jyotiba Phule on his birth anniversary. A banner at the venue read, “Vasundhara sarkar mein hue bhrastachar ke viruddh anshan” and bore a portrait of only Mahatma Gandhi. Two portraits of Gandhi and Jyotiba Phule were also placed on the dais where he sat with Gandhi’s trademark half-table. No Congress politician nor any flag was part of the banner and no MLA or minister was allowed at the venue, where the song ‘Vaishnav Jan to Tene Kahiye’ and others were played while people, especially women, and the youth, came out in large numbers and raised slogans in support of their leader while Pilot kept silent throughout the fast.
Watch Congress leader and the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot launches fast