In the first major assignment, following his failed rebellion in Rajasthan in July, Congress leader Sachin Pilot has been pulled in to campaign for the upcoming Assembly by-elections in Madhya Pradesh. This will pit him directly against another rebel leader, albeit successful, and good friend Jyotiraditya Scindia, in whose area of electoral influence 16 of the 27 seats going to polls fall.

“Kamalnath ji our MPCC president has requested and I will certainly campaign and do all I can to ensure that my party candidates win in the by-elections…I will campaign wherever the party asks me to. I’ve always campaigned extensively for the party in the past as well ” said the 42-year-old Gujjar leader from Rajasthan. Pilot is likely to campaign for the party in Bihar and elsewhere.

Pilot, like Scindia, rebelled against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in July, but unlike Scindia, could not muster the numbers to carry the day. He finally returned to the party fold after deadlocked three weeks with an assurance from the Gandhis that his grievances will be looked into.

Scindia, on the other hand, walked out of the Congress in March with 22 MLAs and joined the BJP, bringing down the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government. Scindia was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat by the BJP and most of his loyalists accommodated in various posts in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.

Of the 27 seats up for polls in Madhya Pradesh in October, 16 fall in Scindia’s area and nine of them have a sizeable Gujjar electorate with a few abutting Rajasthan, which explains the request for campaign sent to Pilot.

Scindia, 49, and Pilot are known to share a warm personal rapport and made their electoral debuts two years apart and under tragic circumstances when both lost their fathers to accidents. The Rajasthan leader fought his first election in 2004 from Dausa, the seat is father Rajesh Pilot held from 1991 to 1999, till his death in a road accident, and his mother Rama Pilot from 2000 to 2004. Scindia’s first election was from Guna in 2002, months after his father Madhavrao Scindia died in a plane crash.

Scindia also spoke in favour of Pilot when he was in the middle of a battle with Gehlot. he had tweeted, “Sad to see my erstwhile colleague, @SachinPilot too, being sidelined and persecuted by Rajasthan CM, @ashokgehlot51 . Shows that talent and capability find little credence in the @INCIndia.”

All eyes will now be on the Madhya Pradesh campaign to see if the two friends will target each other in the cut-throat arena of politics.