In 1998, the Congress went into the assembly elections in Rajasthan under the leadership of Parasram Maderna, a powerful Jat leader. The Jats, a vociferous community, backed the Congress overwhelmingly, believing that Maderna would be made chief minister. The party did exceedingly well in the election, winning 153 seats of the 200-member assembly. The BJP, led by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, was defeated comprehensively. However, Ashok Gehlot was chosen as chief minister by the party leadership, dashing the hopes of Maderna and leaving the Jat community feeling cheated. Maderna was made the assembly speaker.
The Pilot camp could well see a parallel of what happened in 1998 with the turn of events in December 2018 with the young leader, as state Congress president, going into the elections hoping that he would be rewarded for the party's victory with the post of chief ministership, but Gehlot finding favour with the party leadership in the end.
Belonging to the Mali community, electorally not very consequential and in fact, seen as rather neutral in the caste-driven politics of Rajasthan, Gehlot managed to sideline the tall Jat leaders of the Congress, thereby earning the ire of the community, but strengthening his position in the party.
In the December 2008 polls, again there was a strong demand from leaders like Maderna and Sis Ram Ola that the party should install a Jat chief minister. In that election, the party's Brahmin face, C.P. Joshi, who was then the state Congress president, had made his chief ministerial ambitions clear. Joshi lost in the election by just one vote, thereby falling out of the CM race. The party won underwhelmingly, ending up with 96 seats, just short of the majority. And the Congress leadership saw merit in appointing Gehlot as chief minister, trusting him to ride the government through the numerically tricky tenure with the support of MLAs belonging to the BSP and the independents.
The 69-year-old Gehlot is known to be mild-mannered and has often spoken about being influenced by Gandhian philosophy and having an austere lifestyle, even though his political opponents have attacked him for alleged corruption and amassing wealth. But beneath the placid veneer is a tough-as-nails politician who has systematically sidelined his political rivals, Pilot being the latest.
Pilot had in December 2018 settled for the post of deputy chief minister, but the unease between him and Gehlot was always evident. And the senior politician has since then worked to establish his own position as chief minister and simultaneously sideline Pilot.
With Pilot on the warpath against him, the rebellion leaving the Gehlot government numerically vulnerable, the veteran politician is facing one of his toughest political challenges. Will he pull it off yet again?