‘Absolutely okay’ with party decision: Pilot on ticket to Gehlot loyalist

Indore: Days after the Congress fielded Ashok Gehlot loyalist Shanti Dhariwal from the Kota North seat in Rajasthan, senior leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday said he was “absolutely okay” with whatever decision the party has taken as dwelling on the past is not productive.

The ticket distribution was by and large “very fair” with the winnability factor adhered to, he said, adding the priority now was to work for ensuring the victory of all candidates selected by the party.

In an interview with PTI on board a flight from Delhi to Indore in Madhya Pradesh where he will be on a campaign trail for two days, Pilot said he was working in Rajasthan with the mantra of “forgive, forget and move on” as advised by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former AICC president Rahul Gandhi.

Asked about Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s past barbs such as ‘nikamma’ directed at him, Pilot said, “Leave it! Who said what I can be responsible for what I have said or not said. We should maintain dignity in political discussions.”

“Whoever said all those words you mentioned, I did not respond in kind because it is not the way I am built and we now have to move on, let bygones be bygones, whatever was said, we need to forget and move forward. It is not about individuals or positions or someone’s words and statements now. It is about the country and the party,” Pilot said.

He also said who gets what position is “not decided by an individual” and the longstanding tradition in the Congress was that newly-elected MLAs and the leadership in Delhi take a call after getting a majority.

The Congress has not declared a CM face in the state. Asked if Gehlot, by virtue of being the incumbent, does have a head start, Pilot said, “It is not a race where someone has a head start or a late start. It is a process.”

“We have never gone with a declared chief ministerial candidate. That has not been the tradition of the Congress. It has been clarified by the AICC. We are fighting as a united force, party must get to the majority mark, once we do that, then discussions will happen and MLAs who have won elections will give their opinion and the Delhi leadership will decide who will get what position, who will be the leader of the legislature party,” the former deputy CM told PTI.

“As far as the CM post is concerned, that decision lies with the leadership in Delhi and of course the opinion of the workers and the MLAs. So it is a very smooth process that has happened many times before and this time is no different,” he said.

Asked about the voices of dissent following the announcement of the Congress candidates’ lists, the former deputy chief minister said it is a good thing when a political party has a problem of plenty i.e. more people wanting a ticket for the same seat.

“Ultimately, the party can give a ticket only to one individual. So after a lot of feedback, surveys, opinion of leaders, we gave tickets on winnability. It is not possible to satisfy everybody. By and large the distribution of tickets is very fair,” he said.

“I have always wanted more younger people to get opportunities to fight elections and a lot of younger people have been given a chance this time. Overall there are a lot more pulls and pressures and infighting after the announcement of the BJP lists,” Pilot said. Asked specifically about Shanti Dhariwal’s ticket from Kota North. Pilot said, “I don’t want to go into the allocation of (tickets to) individuals. Whoever the party felt was a winnable candidate whether X,Y or Z, that person was given the mandate after much consideration.”