Sachin Pilot has within the newest instalment of his rivalry with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot mentioned that Congress MLAs in Rajasthan who revolted in opposition to the occasion should be punished. In what seems to be a brand new bid for his taking on as Chief Minister, he has mentioned “It’s time now to end the climate of indecision in Rajasthan.”

Mentioning that the state is because of vote in 13 months, he added that occasion observer KC Venugopal had mentioned a choice on “the Rajasthan situation” might be taken quickly. “Congress is an old party with the same rules for everyone, no matter how senior. I’m sure the new president, Mallikarjun Kharge, will decide soon,” he said.

Mr Pilot had so far kept his public statements limited on party’s inside matters. Today he spoke to reporters while campaigning in Himachal Pradesh: “Observers took the situation in Rajasthan seriously. The party has said it was indiscipline. Three MLAs got notices. There should now be action.”

He also noted that Mr Gehlot had apologised to the then party chief Sonia Gandhi for the defiance his loyalists showed against moving him to the national stage.

Mr Pilot was referring to the September turn of events in which he expected to finally get the state’s top job as Mr Gehlot was asked to become Congress president. But that plan — backed by the party’s ‘one person-one post’ rule — fell through after the majority of the MLAs, loyalists of Ashok Gehlot, got together against it.

Both Mr Pilot and Mr Gehlot are guilty of acting against the party line. 

In July 2020, Mr Pilot tried to force a promotion from Deputy Chief Minister by sequestering about 20 MLAs in a resort near Delhi. The message was that unless he were given Mr Gehlot’s job, he would break the party. However, his exercise fizzled out because of the modest support he received.

Mr Gehlot was able to easily prove that he remained the popular choice of MLAs.

Then, just weeks ago, Mr Gehlot flexed his own political muscle to prove to the Congress that he must not be replaced as Chief Minister. 

That possibility came about because Sonia Gandhi urged the 71-year-old to replace her as Congress President. Mr Gehlot suggested a dual role — Chief Minister plus Congress President — provoking a public reproach from Rahul Gandhi.

In response, when the Congress organised a meeting of MLAs in Rajasthan to assess whether a new Chief Minister was needed, Mr Gehlot’s supporters were a no-show, choosing instead to meet separately at a session where they insisted that Mr Gehlot should have veto rights on his replacement, and that Mr Pilot must be declared out of the running.

Mrs Gandhi met with Mr Gehlot a few days later — the delayed meeting was intended to convey the displeasure of the “high command” — and he apologised profusely for the actions of his loyalists.

At the time, Mr Pilot was reportedly assured that his time might have lastly come. 

But there’s been no motion but in opposition to Mr Gehlot’s workforce and apparently no progress within the plans to provide Mr Pilot a shot at working the house state.

When the Congress gained Rajasthan in 2018, Mr Pilot was advised by the Gandhis that he would time-share the Chief Minister’s job with Mr Gehlot, as his senior, getting the primary half of the five-year time period. When Mr Pilot’s revolt failed, he was penalised by being eliminated as Deputy Chief Minister and because the president of the occasion’s Rajasthan unit.