New Delhi: Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot feels the party would have fared better had it replaced sitting MLAs in last year’s assembly elections, which the incumbent Congress lost to the BJP by a huge margin of 69 to 115.
The party general secretary and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister said there might have been anger against these MLAs, as the party lost “17 to 18” seats where 25 of their ministers fought.
Speaking at the Lokmat Parliamentary Awards in the national capital, Pilot said, “If we had changed sitting MLAs, and made a few more changes, then our performance could have been better.”
He also made light of questions that referred to his differences with Congress veteran and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, and whether that could have taken the party down in the polls.
“We had differences. But we sat together. We fought together. We made a lot of effort but I am also very unhappy about the result,” Pilot said.
‘Selective raid on Opposition’
The Congress leader accused the Narendra Modi government of selectively raiding Opposition politicians.
He said 95 percent of raids carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were against Opposition leaders. “The incumbent government is attacking the institutions of the country. It is not about sending people to jail, but to assassinate their character.”
Pilot cited politics in neighbouring countries, which he said had vulnerable institutions. “Sometimes their army takes over, sometimes there is a coup, sometimes a prime minister is put in jail,” he said, adding this should not happen in India.
“Over the last 70 years, people who have built the nation made institutions — the Election Commission, the bureaucracy, and so forth. Despite the defences of political opponents, the institutions remain strong. It is not leaders of a party but institutions that save the nation. There is now a systematic attempt to discredit and hollow out the institutions of our democracy,” he added.
To buttress his point, he cited the example of former US president Donald Trump’s tenure. “Trump was an erratic leader, but that country remained strong for four years,” Pilot said.
His concern over democracy was shared by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who spoke after Pilot. She said: “Sooner or later there will be a scene…we in the Opposition are envisaging, you will have an election but you will have no Opposition. Because all the Opposition will be in jail. You will have an election and you will have only one choice.”
Also read: Congress, BRS knew their MLAs were unpopular—how incumbents are the new electoral paradox
Talking about Russia, she said its president Vladimir Putin also fought elections. “But is there democracy in Russia?” Chaturvedi asked.
Pilot also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for repeatedly labelling the Congress a “dynastic party”. In politics, a family of political leaders “should not be an advantage, nor be a reason for their disqualification”, he said.
Pointing out that several BJP MPs come from dynastic backgrounds, Pilot said: “In Congress it is pariwarwad but not in BJP.”
Lokmat Parliamentary Awards, organised by the Lokmat Media Group, are annually given out to “recognise outstanding works of MPs who rose above the rest while serving the nation”. These awards were instituted in 2017. Past recipients of the awards include Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya among others.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: ‘Gehlot se bair nahin, MLAs ki khair nahin’— why Congress’s bet on incumbents could backfire