All ministers in
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s council resigned Saturday ahead of a
scheduled cabinet reshuffle Sunday. The resignations were expected and may
effectively bring to an end the continued tensions between Ashok Gehlot and
Sachin Pilot.

Ahead of the
resignations, a series of meetings is said to have taken place between Congress
leaders in Delhi and Sachin Pilot. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is also said to
have met senior leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Gehlot-Pilot
tensions

Tensions between
Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot have been in public domain since the Congress
came to power in Rajasthan in 2018. Last year, tensions between Gehlot and
Pilot, who was the deputy chief minister, came to a head when Pilot effectively
led a rebellion against the chief minister, effectively seeking the chief
minister’s post.

Congress has 107
seats in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly. When Pilot rebelled, he posed a
slight but serious risk to the Gehlot government. The developments were
significant as the crisis in Rajasthan was taking place right after
Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was considered close to senior Congress leader and
former chief Rahul Gandhi, jumped ship to the BJP.

A solution
found?

Pilot’s rebellion
was deemed to be a signal that he too could swing. However, after senior
leaders from Delhi intervened, Pilot told the media that he had never
considered joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Having managed Pilot, the
Congress leadership set upon reconstructing its organizational structure in
Rajasthan in a bid to secure a consolidated government.

Bigger share
of pie for Pilot?

Earlier this week,
Sachin Pilot said that a combination of youth and experience should lead the Congress
party in Punjab. This was said right after Ashok Gehlot had promised to rejig
the cabinet. The new ministers in Rajasthan are expected to take oath at Raj
Bhavan on Sunday and half a dozen supporters of Sachin Pilot are expected to be
included. Pilot too may be given a larger role in the party, however, that may
be outside the state of Rajasthan, political pundits say.

The official
line

While the cabinet
rejig is being seen by political observers as an attempt to resolve long-standing
acrimony between Gehlot and Pilot, Rajasthan Congress leaders say the decision
is in line with the party’s policy of giving only one post to a person.