The Congress party had to face a crushing defeat in the Haryana and then Maharashtra assembly elections. After that, the party is mulling over the reasons for the defeat. However, the internal discord in the party is not going to end even before the defeat is resolved. After losing power in Rajasthan, the internal dispute between Sachin Pilot and Gehlot has again come to the fore. On Monday (December 16), the clash between the two veteran leaders came to the fore in the state Congress Committee meeting in the capital Jaipur, the reason for which was a banner. In fact, the picture of Congress National General Secretary and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot is missing from the meeting banner.
Questions raised on the party’s strength:
It is being told that this issue arose when some Congress members expressed displeasure over the absence of Pilot’s picture. This issue was first raised by state secretary Narpat Meghwal. After that, Vibha Mathur also raised questions over the disappearance of Sachin Pilot’s picture. Former Chief Minister Shivcharan Mathur’s granddaughter and Pilot’s supporter Vibha Mathur also joined the discussion later. Vibha Mathur said, when the picture of only one prominent leader is missing, how can we talk about strengthening the party? The banner has the picture of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, so why not Sachin Pilot?
Pay attention to the unity of the party: Dotasara:
After sharp comments from party members on the entire issue came to light, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara defended this decision, citing the protocol behind the banner design. Dotasara criticized the leaders who made the comments and said that the pictures on the poster follow the guidelines of the Congress. Apart from this, he advised the party members that our members should focus on the unity of the party. The controversy started with a banner, in which the pictures of senior Congress leaders at the central and state levels were prominently displayed, but Sachin Pilot was not included in it. Addressing this issue, Dotasara called the incident an internal matter and said, ‘People have expressed their concerns, which have been accepted.’ Let us tell you that during the Rajasthan Assembly elections 2023, the internal dispute between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot caused huge damage to the Congress. Along with this, the Congress also had to lose power. BJP won 115 seats and Congress 69. However, in the 2018 elections, Congress captured power in the state with 100 seats. On the other hand, BJP had only 73 seats. After the election results were announced, political analysts said internal discord was the main reason behind the Congress’ defeat.