Sachin Pilot spoke to NDTV in an exclusive interview
There is nothing wrong in the Congress choosing Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav and Kamal Nath's son Nakul for Lok Sabha contests, senior party leader Sachin Pilot told NDTV, while stressing that the BJP, too, gives poll chances to many leaders whose fathers are in politics.
In an exclusive chat in the run-up to the general election, Mr Pilot said the Congress has chosen its candidates after surveys and factoring in all equations.
The Congress has released names of its candidates for 82 Lok Sabha seats so far. The party has named its choices for 10 out of Rajasthan's 25 seats.
Before the second list was out, there was speculation on whether Mr Pilot will be fielded from the Tonk-Sawai Madhopur seat. He currently represents the Tonk Assembly constituency. The Congress, however, chose former IPS officer Harish Chandra Meena for Tonk.
Asked if he will be contesting the general election, Mr Pilot said, "It's not a question of whether I want to fight or not. I will do what the party tells me. I have contested the Vidhan Sabha elections, been a part of the government. I am now in charge of Chhattisgarh. We have 11 seats there. That is my responsibility, as is Tonk-Sawai Madhopur," he said.
The Congress did not win a single seat in Rajasthan in the 2014 and the 2019 general elections. Some reports have claimed that looking at the dismal poll record of the party, many senior leaders are not willing to contest the election.
To a question on the party's poor record, Mr Pilot said, "In the past two elections, we did not open our account. This time, we will win with interest."
The selection of candidates in the Congress, he said, was a joint exercise. "All candidates are our candidates. If Nakul Nath and Vaibhav Gehlot get tickets, what is wrong with it? Vaibhav did not win the last time, so the party has given him a second chance. There is nothing wrong as long as we win. Many people in the BJP get tickets and their father and grandfathers are politicians. No one talks about that," he said.
The remarks are significant against the backdrop of the intense rivalry between Mr Pilot and the senior Gehlot to control the Congress in Rajasthan. The infighting had almost toppled the Congress-led government in 2020 when Mr Pilot led a mutiny with a considerable chunk of MLAs. While the Congress had then managed to contain the damage, the tussle within the state unit remained. The rivalry between Mr Gehlot and Mr Pilot is considered to be one of the key factors that led to the Congress's rout in the state polls last year.
With the elections approaching, the party is trying hard to put a united front.
Vaibhav Gehlot had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jodhpur but lost to BJP heavyweight Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Following the election, the gloves were off and Ashok Gehlot had held Mr Pilot, then the state Congress chief, responsible for his son's loss. In an interview in 2022, Mr Pilot said the Congress leadership fielded Vaibhav Gehlot in the 2019 election on his insistence. He had also backed the junior Gehlot after the central agencies raided his premises in connection with a money laundering investigation.