Written by Rehmat Kaur, a grade 9 student

Sachin Pilot is an Indian politician affiliated with the Indian National Congress. He served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan and President of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee. On 14th July 2020, he was sacked by the Congress Party from both these posts after he led a revolt against Ashok Gehlot, the present Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

A quick bio

Pilot was born to the late Congress leader Rajesh Pilot and Rama Pilot. In 2004, he was elected from the Dausa constituency during the Lok Sabha elections. At the age of 26, this made him the youngest Member of Parliament elected in India. He won the seat of Ajmer in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and was appointed the Minister of Corporate Affairs in 2012. In 2014, he became the President of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), which is the state committee of the Congress Party in Rajasthan. In December 2018, he became the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

What’s the issue with the Congress right now?

The struggle for Power between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot began after the latter was declared Chief Minister of the Rajasthan. Both played a key role in the Congress Party’s victory in Rajasthan, but the party was in favor of the more experienced Gehlot, which led to a conflict between the two. In 2020, Pilot and sixteen other MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly) rebelled against Ashok Gehlot by not attending the Congress Legislature Party meeting on 13th July. On 14th July, another meeting was held to resolve the conflict between Pilot and Gehlot. Despite numerous urgent calls from fellow Congress members, Pilot and the MLAs supporting him did not attend the second meeting either. This resulted in the disqualification of Pilot from the post of Deputy Chief Minister.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala announced that the party has removed  Pilot and two other cabinet ministers, Vishvender Singh and Ramesh Meena from their positions. The Congress has accused their rival party, the Bhartiya Janta Party of collaborating with Pilot and instigating the revolt. Although rumors arose that Sachin Pilot would join the BJP, he dismissed these statements as false. Other Congress members have stated that Pilot is still welcome. But the party has not agreed to his demands to be appointed Chief Minister within a year. In addition to this, Pilot also wants the Congress to forgive the rebel MlAs and give them important positions in the party.

Now what?

As Rajasthan suffers from a political crisis, senior advocate Harish Salve is fighting on behalf of Sachin Pilot in court and Ashok Gehlot’s government is struggling to regain popularity in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. From a total of 200 seats, the Congress has fallen from 107 to 88 (excluding the 19 MLAs who rebelled). The BJP currently has support from 72 MLAs. Gehlot needs support from 13 MLAs who are not from his party while BJP needs 26 to take over. The uncertain situation in Rajasthan continues to intensify as political parties engage in a battle of which no one knows the results. Sachin Pilot’s path is just as uncertain as he may continue to support the Congress, join the BJP, or form his own political party.