The appointment of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and six other leaders from Rajasthan to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) seems to have sent the central leadership’s message to the ruling party in the State to end the rift and maintain unity for the coming Assembly elections. Mr. Pilot’s political stature has increased with his new appointment.
Mr. Pilot has been given an organisational role in the highest decision-making body of the Congress after a gap of three years since his rebellion in July 2020, when he was stripped of his positions as the Deputy Chief Minister and Pradesh Congress Committee president. The party’s move to affirm Mr. Pilot’s significance is expected to pacify his supporters who were unhappy over the turn of events in the last three years.
With Mr. Pilot’s inclusion in the CWC following a truce brought about between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and him, the Congress’s election campaign is set to gain strength, especially because he was also included in the screening committee for distributing party tickets earlier this month. Mr. Pilot on Monday announced his schedule to address a party workers’ convention in his Assembly constituency, Tonk, on Tuesday.
The Tonk MLA said the convention would be dedicated to the hard-working party members. He also expressed gratitude to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders for making him a CWC member, saying he would join the efforts to strengthen the ideology and policies of the Congress and take them to the people.
Impact on Gujjars
While Mr. Pilot’s induction in the CWC has set at rest the speculations about his appointment as the AICC general secretary or Pradesh Congress Committee president, his organisational role will make an impact on the Gujjar community, to which he belongs. Gujjars, constituting a dominant community in eastern Rajasthan, had voted overwhelmingly for the Congress in the 2018 Assembly polls, but they were seemingly annoyed over the treatment meted out to Mr. Pilot.
The representation of Rajasthan in the reconstituted CWC has gone up from four to seven. Cabinet Minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, a prominent tribal leader from Banswara district, is a new entrant who has replaced Raghuveer Meena. Mr. Meena, who is also the Pradesh Congress vice-president, was representing the tribal community in the CWC for the last two terms.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh and Rajya Sabha Member Abhishek Manu Singhvi have been retained and are part of the core CWC, which has been expanded from the earlier 25 to 39. AICC in-charge for Punjab Harish Choudhary and Congress’s national spokesperson Mohan Prakash have been included among the permanent invitees, while AICC media department’s chairman Pawan Kheda has been included in the list of special invitees.
