FPJ Edit: Rajasthan exposes irrelevance of the Gandhis

So that is how the cookie crumbles. After stripping Sachin Pilot of deputy chief ministership and headship of the Rajasthan Congress, it is now a matter of time before he is formally ousted from the party. Or himself quits the party. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accomplished his objective to take the thorn from his side and fling it away, even though in the process he may have jeopardised the stability of his government. Sending a police notice to his number two to prove his loyalty to the government was a deliberate offence. No self-respecting leader would have put up with the public humiliation. Pilot reacted as anyone else would have in his place. Without any evidence charging one’s colleague of subversion was a provocation. Gehlot wanted Pilot out and he has got his wish. On Tuesday, the second meeting of the Congress legislative party in as many days established that a good number of party MLAs do support Pilot. Being in the saddle, Gehlot mustered the support of nearly 90 MLAs, the others at the meeting belonged to smaller parties. The latter can without batting an eyelid switch support. Therefore, a floor test may have become necessary for Gehlot to prove majority. As for Pilot, at 43 he has age on his side. He can wait for the opportune time to strike. He can now chalk out his own independent course, even if he does not want to follow Jyotiraditya Scindia’s example and join the BJP. Wielding his lonely furrow in Rajasthan which is polarised between the BJP and the Congress would leave him with little space to grow. But he can bide his time till internal dissensions which are bound to surface sooner than later in the Gehlot-led dispensation present him with an opportunity to try and string together an alternative in the current Assembly. With 70-odd MLAs, the BJP is better-served watching from the sidelines before the pull of Pilot and internal dissensions rock the Gehlot Ministry. The Rajasthan blow would further erode the Gandhis’ control over the Congress. Regional satraps would increasingly defy the so-called high command. For the party wasting a promising next-generation leader like Pilot will prove a self-inflicted wound. How deep that is can be gauged in a public opinion poll which would throw up Pilot rather than Rahul Gandhi a hands down winner.