In BJP, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat continues to be the front runner for CM post: Dr Chandra

Giving an in depth analysis of the current political situation in Rajasthan, Dr Jagdeesh Chandra — CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Bharat24-Vision of New India and CMD and Editor-in-Chief, First India News and First India, asks, ‘Will Sonia succeed this time in making Pilot the Chief Minister?’ Dr Chandra also stresses that CM Ashok Gehlot lost out on a golden opportunity to become Party President and how Gehlot, if all goes well for him, might become Party’s Prime Ministerial face! Excerpts... (Part-II)

• It is said in Delhi Congress circles that Ashok Gehlot works as a parallel Congress President while staying in Jaipur. What do you think about this claim?
  Dr Jagdeesh Chandra: Absolutely. He does not only get decision regarding Rajasthan done from Jaipur, but he gets decisions on other states done too. He is de-facto Mallikarjun Kharge. Rather I would go on to say that he is more powerful than Kharge. He is more articulate than Kharge. What you have said has been said in the past as well that Ashok Gehlot is in a role of a parallel Congress President.

• If Congress does form government in Rajasthan post election, then who will lead the government as Chief Minister?
  See, for the past fifteen years since I have been part of the media, I have always been saying that in Rajasthan, Congress means Gehlot and till the time Gehlot is alive, by God’s grace, Gehlot will always be the CM. And this has come true till now. In spite of the rebellion of September 25, Gehlot continued to remain CM. Now the question is who will be CM if the government is formed now? My belief is that if Congress becomes successful in forming government, then Gehlot will be Chief Minister.

• What was Sachin Pilot’s role in this entire ticket distribution? Was he satisfied with the candidates fielded? Has the Gehlot-Pilot conundrum finally got solved?
  There is a senior journalist Sanjeev Srivastav who says that their issues have not ended rather on the surface there has been an understanding. Both the leaders have got tickets for their supporters. Pilot has got about two dozen tickets for his supporters which has been a facesaving for him Gehlot gave ninety percent tickets to his supporters. Well as far as their tussle is concerned, that will come to light when there is a chance of getting power. As of now there is no power with either of the leaders and when after election, if situation becomes that Congress may come to power, then the real power struggle will start and it will be known if their issues have been settled. It will be premature to say that today.

• But still Pilot camp and high command sources stress that if Congress goes on to form government, then Sachin Pilot may be the Chief Minister.
  They have been thinking on these lines but this development does not come to pass. In fact there came a time when preparations were made for swearing in, but it did not come to pass. I have heard that in these past five years. Promises were made. Although Priyanka Gandhi says that Sachin was never promised CM’s chair but was told that the high command will take care of him. Perhaps others thought this was meant about CM’s chair. So what will happen now in the assurances given to Pilot will be known on the day government is formed but the most important aspect is that Pilot’s horoscope should also be right. He came close to being CM twice. Once was when he rebelled at his group reached Manesar but at the last minute Ahmed Patel came as a heaven sent angel for Gehlot and took three Pilot supporters with him. Had those three not backed out, Pilot would have become CM. His horoscope would reveal that in spite of high command’s blessings if he can, or if Gehlot surrenders, which to me does not seem to be happening because then he could say that 2024 election are round the corner hence he should be made CM to project Congress’ trust in leaders. But even if he surrenders, does Pilot’s horoscope say that he will become CM? I believe that if such a situation arises, and Ashok Gehlot gives his resignation under an emotional environment in favour of Pilot, then too he would establish a mechanism that Pilot does not become CM rather some other should become. Definitely, Pilot has waited for a long time and he is young and the new generation should be given a chance, but at least his horoscope should also reflect something positive for him. Similarly, Gehlot’s horoscope should also hint at forming government and Congress should come out victories only then will all these variables will come into play and hence there will be a suspicion on this question over Pilot.

• You said that if the Congress government comes then Ashok Gehlot will be the Chief Minister. But suppose that Congress government came and for some reason he was not given the role of Chief Minister, then what would be the role of Gehlot?
  Then see, one thing will happen that he will have to go to Delhi. And this means that it is natural that the post of General Secretary is kept for him, perhaps he should be appointed in place of Venugopal and given the charge of Treasure. But I think the bigger thing is that he could have become the Congress President. But Kharge has gone much further and is handling issues like Opposition Unity and India Alliance. But if such a situation arises, then Ashok Gehlot can be the Prime Ministerial face of Congress. The reason is that Rahul Gandhi is a reluctant bride and even if the party asks him, he will say that no, I am not ready to take any direct responsibility. So, the future of Ashok Gehlot in Congress is that in that situation, he will be Sonia Gandhi’s eyes and ears in Delhi and his mind will be focused on Rajasthan too. He will come here a few days a week and he will be the backward class face of Congress for the post of Prime Minister.

• What do you feel that after what happened on August 25, 2022 and Gehlot did not become Congress President, was he right in doing so or is his current role better?
  My assessment is that it was a strategic mistake of Ashok Gehlot. He should have opted for party presidency. At that time Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was going on. If at that time, Ashok Gehlot had become the President, Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Priyanka and others would have walked in the Yatra passing through Rajasthan, then you can imagine the added enthusiasm would the Congress workers have had in their journey! In the mind of any Congress worker, becoming the President of the party is the epitome. So he should not have lost the opportunity either in the conflict with Pilot or in the allurement of the post of Chief Minister, but he lost it. And again, he was the most loyal leader of the party, and loyal to Sonia Gandhi. No one could have expected that when Ashok Gehlot was the CLP leader, there could be a rebellion in the team and a rebellion against the orders of the high command. And Ashok Gehlot himself went and said that Madam, I am sorry and it was my responsibility because I was the leader and I could not get it done. Even on the day the rebellion was taking place, Ashok Gehlot told Mahesh Joshi at 1 o’clock in the night that everything is fine but what would Sonia ji be thinking? So they had a relationship of trust and confidence? It was broken once. Whether it was restored later is a different matter. Sonia’s confidence was so much that when all this happened and Ashok Gehlot came apologizing, he was still offered the opportunity to become the President. Someone told me that at 8:30, then at 11:30 and then at 1:30 the high Command phoned Gehlot and said leave whatever happened, come to Delhi and become the President. But he did not like it. But today I can say that if the government is not formed, and Ashok Gehlot would mull on this aspect, he may come to conclusion that it would have been better if he had gone somewhere else, then neither would he be accused of rebellion or breach of trust. The only thing that remains is that he remained the Chief Minister for one and a half years. I said that revenge is the cause of death. Their people have such a strong sense of vengeance against Pilot and the feeling of enmity between the two camps is so great that they felt that if he was no longer the Chief Minister, his supporters would absolutely come to ransom. So all those supporters ran to Gehlot’s house and created pressure that something bad may happen. So all of them went and explained to Gehlot. Otherwise there was a moment when Ashok Gehlot had called Mahesh Joshi and said that if you have received a call from Delhi, then make a proposal of one or two lines that you trust the command. But the supporters who were afraid of Pilot got this decision changed. So I believe that it would have been better if Gehlot had become the party president. Now who can read the destiny, so let’s see.

• So if BJP government is formed in the State, who will be the contender for the CM’s chair?
  This is a relevant question since majority of surveys are saying that BJP will come back to power. As far as CM is concerned, the natural choice in this party was Vasundhara Raje. I have used the word ‘was’ in addressing this question in relation to Raje. Had it been the case that she would have been projected and contest would have been fought on Narendra Modi’s face and Amit Shah’s strategy, then the chances of winning the elections would have been more. Although BJP is claiming that it will get 140 seats. So Raje would have become CM as natural choice. However, as of today and according to the prevailing situation, Raje is not the front runner for CM. As of today, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is the choice for CM and I have been saying this for the past four years that the high command has groomed him over these years for Rajasthan as shadow Chief Minister or as leader of opposition. And secondly, as far as Raje is concerned, it is high command’s policy decision that they have replace old guards with second generation. They are looking for leaders that are young who can rule for 10-15 years and Shekhawat falls in that bracket. But if one has to name one can name Ashwini Vaishnaw, or Arjun Ram Meghwal or Diya Kumari or Rajendra Rathore. But I believe that Shekhawat is the natural contender who has been groomed by the party for four years.

During the show #JCOnRajasthanElection trended top All-India on Twitter