Rajasthan keeps Pilot off posters even as ₹25cr spent on CM Gehlot

Jyotiraditya Scindia’s departure from the Congress over his power tussle with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, has now turned the attention towards Rajasthan, where the friction between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president Sachin Pilot, is said to be getting worse by the day.

That all is not well between Gehlot and Pilot is evident from the complete absence of the latter’s mention in government advertisements, worth at least ₹25 crore, published in the Congress’s first year in office.

Quoting Rajasthan’s Information and Public Relations Department sources, the Indian Express reported that between December 2018 and November 2019, the Congress government in Rajasthan spent at least ₹25 crore on official advertisements, which only carried the photographs of Chief Minister Gehlot and not Pilot.

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Indian Express which sourced the details from an RTI report sought by one advocate Sahiram Godara from the state information and public relation department, said when asked about the reason behind the nil coverage of Pilot in around 62 advertisements, Gehlot said his government was merely following Supreme Court guidelines.

“The government works according to the guidelines of the Supreme Court. If you remember, the Supreme Court had first restricted the use of photographs of even chief ministers in advertisements. Then the Court revised its order permitting the use of photographs of chief ministers…Chief Minister thodi kahta hain ki photo meri lagao, kisi ke mat lago (you think, it’s the chief minister’s call to put up his own photo and not allow that of others?). This is a routine government work. Department ke kaam hain. And the department works according to the Supreme Court guidelines,” Indian Express quoted Gehlot as saying.

Pilot, when contacted by the publication, however, chose not to give any comments.

The Supreme Court in March 2016, had modified its judgement of May 2015 to allow publication of photographs of chief ministers, governors and cabinet and state ministers in public advertisements. Earlier, only pictures of the president, prime minister and chief justice of India were allowed to be published in such ads.

According to the RTI report, the Rajasthan government in its first year, between December 17, 2018 and November 11, 2019, had spent almost ₹25.08 crore on 62 advertisements in national and regional dailies including Congress-leaning National Herald and Navjivan.

While the simmering friction between Gehlot and Pilot, has so far been camouflaged by the party’s common pitch to fight the BJP, their differences are now growing wider and prominent.

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It was evident in their different approach to Scindia’s exit.

Gehlot while denouncing the quitting of Scindia, called him an “opportunist” who has betrayed the trust of people for his “self-indulgent political ambitions” in a series of tweets.

“The sooner opportunists leave, the better. Congress party gave so much, held various posts for 17-18 years, was made an MP, a Union Minister. Despite all this, what came out was just an opportunist, public would never forgive,” Gehlot tweeted on Wednesday, the day Scindia was formally inducted into the BJP.

Pilot’s tone wasn’t as critical, but more of an empathetic one. Calling Scindia’s resignation an “unfortunate” incident, he wished the matter could have been resolved in a more collaborative way within the party.

“Unfortunate to see @JM_Scindia parting ways with @INCIndia. I wish things could have been resolved collaboratively within the party,” he tweeted.

After the Congress won the 2018 elections in Rajasthan, Pilot had expected the chief minister’s post, but was cajoled by Rahul Gandhi to give up his claims after Gehlot promised better results in the 2019 General Elections. But after Congress’s poor performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Rajasthan, Pilot called for accountability while his loyalists demanded a change in power.

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The examples of Madhya Pradesh and most likely Rajasthan are just the surface of the long-drawn discontentment brewing between Congress veterans and its ambitious young force.