Sachin Pilot’s decision to stay back is being projected by Rahul Gandhi’s team as a stepping stone to RaGa’s inevitable return as Congress president, and this could be sooner rather than later. There are those who say that Rahul was waiting for the Sachin saga to be resolved so he would (re)take office as someone who keeps his team together and not someone who forever needs the Old Guard to bat for him. If that is indeed correct, then the Pilot project plays to the script. It was Rahul — along with the one person he trusts the most from GenNext, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — who met Sachin for a three-hour meeting on 10 August to work out the modalities of his return. There was no Sonia Gandhi present there, for a reason. Not because there is a lack of trust between the three but because this episode had to be handled by the siblings with no member of the Old Guard present. It was only when the return was worked out that Ahmed Patel was called in, as was K.C. Venugopal. While the latter was brought in as the party general secretary in-charge of organisational affairs, Ahmed Patel’s presence was to send a message to Ashok Gehlot and the rest of the old guard. Moreover, this was not so much a gesture as it was a move, for usually it was Ahmad Patel who did the backroom talks and the Gandhi president of the day was called in for the photo-op. Now the siblings had reversed that play, sending out another subliminal message. This is: Rahul Gandhi now has what he lacked in his first innings, a political advisor he trusts implicitly. In Rahul’s second coming as party chief, he will have Priyanka Gandhi Vadra by his side, as his sankat mochan (remover of obstacles) as well as a sort of brand custodian for she is the only person that is trusted by both Team Rahul and Team Sonia. (And while the main protagonists themselves may not play camps, it is now clear that their supporters do.) One way of characterising these camps is to put them into an Old Generation Vs GenNext setting, another could be to make it a UPA2 vs Team Rahul scenario. But whichever way you divide the Congress, Priyanka cuts across all camps.
This has been an operation entirely handled by Team Rahul. To reach out to Sachin, after P. Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh failed to convince him, the siblings roped in the one person who enjoys both theirs and Sachin’s trust: Jitin Prasada. An added plus is that Jitin knows this road all too well. His was a counsel that Sachin would have heard as it is the experience of one who not just nearly left the party, but has also once again built his bridges with the duo. This was a vital message to send to Sachin and one in which the messenger was equally important. Not surprising then, one of the first tweets welcoming Sachin’s decision to stay back, came from Jitin.
Another interesting message that has been delivered by wooing Sachin Pilot back instead of letting him go, is that the Congress will now be more reactive to the grievances of leaders who have huge utility along with huge egos. This kind of outreach was not made in either Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy or Hemanta Biswa Sarma’s case; and the party lost two leaders with both heft and connect, because the Gandhis just couldn’t be bothered to hold them back. Now, what Rahul and Priyanka are signalling is that yes, they can and will be bothered.
And so, the Pilot landing is important not just for itself but also as it has all the markers of Rahul’s second try at leading the party.
