Party has given me enough, now its time to give back to Congress
Date: 26/11/2018
As polling day draws nearer in Rajasthan, currently a BJP-governed state, Sachin Pilot says his days don't end before 1 or 2 am, and describes a routine that's "all over the place". The state Congress chief has been a central minister, but this is his first-ever assembly election. Does Pilot, 41, think he has earned the chief minister's post?
"I always keep saying that I've got enough from the party," he told India Today TV. "I've been in government. What happens in the future, I don't know. That decision lies with the Congress. But I have the satisfaction to the extent that I've been able to contribute [to] rebuilding the organisation."
The Congress, he said a little earlier in the interview, has a tradition: Contest elections, and then MLAs decide who will get what positions.
Pilot struck a Kennedyesque note when, having summarised his remarkable career, he spoke of giving back to his party. "At 26, I became an MP. At 31, I was a minister in the Union government. At 35, I was heading the Congress party in Rajasthan. So the Congress party has given me enough. Now it's time for me to give back to the Congress."
Both Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot (a former CM) are considered frontrunners for the top post if the Congress wins. But for Pilot, the priority is defeating Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and the BJP. "Who gets what position is not as important as the fact that we must form the government, and relieve the people of the five years of suffering they've had."
Political Stock Exchange survey suggested that the BJP is heading for defeat in Rajasthan, where it won 163 out of 200 assembly seats in 2013. The Congress appeared poised for a big win. But psephologist Yogendra Yadav said, "I do not see why we should see this as a sweep for the Congress because the Congress hasn't done very much in the state.
"But the BJP is clearly losing it and they are losing it big."
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