Gehlot’s open defiance of the Congress high command when his MLAs refused to meet the state-in-charge Ajay Maken individually poses a new challenge to the Nehru-Gandhis crumbling citadel.
The Congress first family doesn’t have the spunk to punish Gehlot even after a call for party discipline by Mallikarjun Kharge and the obvious displeasure of state in charge Ajay Maken.
This was evident when a sham disciplinary action has been proposed against the 3 MLAs who met Maken at the behest of Gehlot thus making them the scapegoat and trying to hoodwink everyone into thinking that action has been taken.
The Nehru-Gandhis dare not touch Gehlot as he has the backing of 85 to 90 MLAs out of 108 in the Congress and upsetting him would be upsetting the Congress applecart in Rajasthan which is the only notable northern state left in the Congress kitty. Gehlot is unwilling to vacate the CM chair in favor of Sachin Pilot whom he has openly called a traitor.
There were reports that Sonia Gandhi was upset with Gehlot’s behavior after Ajay Maken filed his report but Sonia could not muster the strength to take disciplinary action against the veteran leader as the numbers were with Gehlot & Rajasthan is probably the last straw that the Gandhis are clutching onto apart from Chattisgarh given their self-goal & humiliation in Punjab coupled with losses in Madhya Pradesh and UP.
So what will eventually play out in Rajasthan will be a face-saver where the status quo would be restored with Gehlot emerging unscathed and his henchmen being punished as a face-saver for Nehru-Gandhis.
The Nehru-Gandhis have a penchant for inviting trouble as they did with so much finesse in Punjab and earlier in Madhya Pradesh. Rajasthan had already seen a face-off in 2020 between the two protagonists of the Congress who have no love lost between them so what was the need to push Gehlot’s name for the sham presidential election when his animosity for Pilot is well known.
With Gehlot not budging from the CM chair, the Congress high command will have to put forth some other dummy for the presidential race to take on Tharoor if they have to stick with the one man, one post theory.
Meanwhile Pilot will have to be placated again but for how long will Sachin Pilot withstand the stick & carrot treatment being meted out to him for the past 4 years is anybody’s guess. Will he go the Scindia way and does he have the numbers to topple the Gehlot government, only time will tell.
After being called a traitor by his bete noire Pilot’s options must be narrowing down quickly as he sees the ground slipping from under the Nehru-Gandhis.
