New desert storm brewing ahead of elections

With just a few months to go for the Rajasthan elections, the desert storm is brewing.

On a sleepy Sunday, Sachin Pilot woke up the Congress top leadership in New Delhi when he held a press conference. What appeared to be a routine media interaction ended as a shocker from Pilot, as he asked about an investigation he had sought for allegations of corruption against former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia.

In fact, Pilot, without saying it explicitly, set the cat among the pigeons when he said, “If there is a delay in investigation, people will wonder if there is a proximity between us and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).”

Pilot may not say it but the whisper campaign which runs in Rajasthan is often the allegation that Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Vasundhara Raje Scindia share cordial relations. In fact, one leader close to Pilot said, “That’s why no action has been taken against her and no inquiry has begun.”

And the BJP is not going to stop pulling its punches in attacking and accusing the Gehlot government.

Back to Pilot, who is waiting to get some clarity on his political future in Rajasthan with elections just a few months away. The top Congress leadership is confused as they are also aware that Gehlot has the experience in governance and handling the MLAs. But Pilot is reconciled to take on a bigger mantle for himself and carve a place in the desert.

So on April 11, he will be on a daylong hunger strike to fight what he calls the “corruption of the BJP”. The day and venue have been chosen carefully. April 11 is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, the social activist who fought against caste discrimination and belonged to the Maali community, the same as that of Gehlot.

Despite the attempts by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to end the fight between Pilot and Gehlot, the dust refuses to settle.