Churu: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party leaders Sachin Pilot and Govind Singh Dotasra during 'Congress Guarantee Rally' ahead of the State Assembly elections, at Taranagar in Churu district, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023.
Credit: PTI
Jaipur: Rahul Gandhi today campaigned in Rajasthan dispelling rumours that Congress is already considering the state as a lost cause and that apparent unity between the top two leaders was actually a public facade till the elections.
Rahul will campaign in Rajasthan for four days in the run-up to the elections on Nov 25. He started his campaign today from Churu and will follow it up with rallies on Nov 19, 21 and 22. He will be campaigning in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar as well. Earlier Rahul had come for a Congress Karyakarta Sammelan in September and before that for a rally in Mangarh Dham in August.
The Congress Party in Rajasthan has been severely hit by factionalism between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot. In 2020, Pilot rebelled along with 18 close MLAs and wanted the top post for himself. The rebellion failed miserably and Pilot’s reputation and party’s image took a major hit.
In 2022 when the Congress High Command wanted Gehlot to take over the party’s presidency, Gehlot stalled the move along with his faithfuls, which miffed Rahul immensely. And sources say Rahul probably decided not to campaign for Gehlot initially. Also when he said in an event in Delhi in September that : “Right now, we are probably winning in Telangana, we are certainly winning in Madhya Pradesh, we are certainly winning Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan, we are very close and we think we will be able to win,” which kind a demoralised the Congress workers.
Although Gehlot pushed his welfare schemes and more importantly himself to the forefront before the voters and Pilot said let bygones be bygones and that he was looking forward to working together, Congress workers and their supporters did not actually take apparent bonhomie between the two seriously.
Today as Gehlot, Pilot and state Congress President Govind Singh Dotasra all together stood at the airport smiling to receive Rahul Gandhi, it wasn’t just for photo optics but to prove that all was actually well in the party.
“We are not only seen together but we are also united. We will be together and Congress will sweep the elections here in Rajasthan and win,” said Rahul Gandhi.
In fact, Gehlot and Pilot were seen discussing something before they received Rahul and indulged in the courteous “Pehle Aap, pehle aap’ culture when Rahul landed. However, Rahul first shook hands with Sachin before going on to Gehlot.
Earlier Gehlot had tweeted a picture with Pilot in a meeting saying “Ek saath jeet rahen hain phir se” meaning “together we are winning again.”
Political analyst Narayan Bareth told Deccan Herald: “The show of unity amongst the leaders is a positive message for the general voters and also for the Opposition. But on the ground things are different. The supporters of Gehlot and especially Pilot, keep mouthing controversial statements on social media, projecting a disunited party. Leaders should stop their supporters from bickering and stop the war of words if it has to win and change the trend of changing the incumbent government every five years.”