‘Humara CM Kaisa ho? Sachin Pilot jaisa’: Slogans as Rahul leads Bharat Jodo

Rahul Gandhi earlier this week commented on “dissent” in the party.

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has completed 100 days. Every now and then, visuals worth capturing are emerging from the foot march, which was launched in September as the Congress planned to rekindle its mass connect. On Sunday, as Rahul Gandhi began the day’s foot march from Dausa in Rajasthan, unanticipated chants in support of Sachin Pilot were reported to be heard. Speculation over differences between Sachin Pilot and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has often brought the ruling party under fire from the rival BJP, which has accused the party of not being able to settle infighting.

In a video tweeted by news agency ANI, some men carrying party flags were heard chanting: “Sachin Pilot zindabad. (Long live Sachin Pilot). Humara CM kaisa ho? Sachin Pilot jaisa ho. (How should be our chief minister? Like Sachin Pilot.)” HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.

Rajasthan is the eighth state where the Congress’s mega foot march is being carried out. The Kanyakumari to Kashmir foot march – which is also being undertaken in view of multiple state elections and the 2024 national polls – has faced controversies in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka earlier. While one controversy was regarding use of a movie song, the other was over allegations that slogans related to Pakistan were raised.

When it entered Rajasthan recently, all attention was on the Gehlot-Pilot equation days after the Rajasthan Chief Minister had stirred up the hornet’s nest during an interview with NDTV, calling his former deputy “gaddar (traitor)”.

On Friday, as the party marked 100 days of Yatra, Rahul Gandhi said the tradition of the party is not to shut down anyone and it is not only in Rajasthan. “Our party is not a fascist, dictator party. We are open to discussion and debate. We tolerate this. And this is not about Rajasthan only. This has been the tradition of the Congress that if a party leader wants to say something we don’t scare and shut them. Obviously, the dissent must not harm the party majorly,” he said at a briefing.