News Analysis India

Tag: Sachin Pilot

  • Gehlot and Pilot put on a show of unity as they kick-off campaigning for Rajasthan by-polls

    Express News Service
    The ruling Congress in Rajasthan held two ‘Kisan Mahapanchayats’ on Saturday as part of its farmer outreach and to kick-off its campaign for the four assembly by-polls. Significantly, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot not only spoke from the same platform but also shared the same helicopter as they flew to address the two Mahapanchayats in a bid to present a united face after many months of infighting.

    Ever since Pilot rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership last July, differences between the two have left the state Congress a fragmented house. Even recently during Rahul Gandhi’s trip to Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot was made to come down from the dais at one rally, a move which left the Pilot camp hurt and angry.

    However, as the two leaders flew in the same helicopter, the effort was seen as a damage-control exercise to project a united face of the Congress party keeping in view the upcoming by-elections. Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken and state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara also travelled along with Gehlot and Pilot in the same helicopter to give a message of unity. Interestingly, Sachin Pilot has held three separate kisan mahapanchayats over the past few weeks.

    The two kisan mahapanchayats on Saturday were held at Dhaneru in Bikaner district and at Matrakundiya village in Chittorgarh district. The four bypolls are scheduled in Sujangarh, Rajsamand, Sahada and Vallabhgarh as their four MLAs have passed away between October 2020 and January 2021.

    Addressing the gathering at Dungargarh, Gehlot urged people to vote for the Congress and claimed that huge injustice was being done to farmers. He remarked, “We all know what is happening in the country. Democracy is being destroyed and farmers are being made to sleep outdoors in biting cold. Farmers want the new laws to be repealed but the government is not ready to listen to them. PM Modi had promised to bring ‘Achche Din’ but people are saying please give back our good old days. These new days have forced farmers to live on the streets.”  

    Similarly, Pilot stressed how the Congress had opposed the farm laws from the very beginning. He asserted, “When farmers are so upset, it’s difficult to understand, as Rahul Gandhi ji has asked, as to why the Prime Minister can’t repeal the laws. Since farmers are the backbone of the country, why can’t the PM talk to them.”

    However, Pilot also indirectly reminded people of his contribution in reviving the Congress in Rajasthan. He remarked, “When the BJP had formed the last government, we were down to just 21 seats in the assembly. But then we worked together and strengthened our party in the state. We are all united and our Congress party is really strong.”  

    Clearly, before the crucial by-elections in Rajasthan, the Congress is engaged in removing bitterness. But political observers wonder whether the Gehlot-Pilot show of togetherness, including by sharing a helicopter together after almost one and a half years, will last beyond the campaigning for the bypolls. 

  • Modi government looting people: Pilot lashes out at BJP on rising fuel prices

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Monday questioned the silence of BJP leaders on inflation and rising fuel prices.

    “The central government is looting people of their hard-earned money by unexpectedly increasing the prices of petrol, diesel, and domestic gas,” the Congress leader said in a tweet in Hindi.

    He said during the tenure of the Congress-led UPA government, BJP leaders used to “make a lot of noise” over the issue of inflation but now they are silent.

    In 12 days, retail petrol prices have risen by Rs 3.63 a litre, a record since the pricing was deregulated in 2010, and diesel rates have gone up by Rs 3.84.

    Petrol price has already surged past the Rs 100-mark in some places in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which levy the highest VAT on the fuel.

    On Saturday, petrol price touched an all-time high of Rs 97 per litre in Mumbai while diesel rate crossed Rs 88-mark.

  • Draft farm bills afresh after consulting farmers: Sachin Pilot to Centre

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Urging the Centre not to make the agri laws a “prestige issue”, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday asserted that the government must let go of its “stubbornness” to immediately repeal the legislations, and said that when the BJP could not convince its allies like the Akali Dal and the RLP on the issue, how can it expect the farmers to accept the laws.

    A day ahead of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Rajasthan to raise the voice of the farmers against the farm laws, he said that the Centre should withdraw the laws and after thorough consultation with farmers and states, come up with a new set of legislations which the tillers would themselves want and is not something that is forced upon them.

    In an interview with PTI, Pilot slammed the BJP for stating that the Congress had made a “U-turn” on the farm laws, saying it was the BJP which was prone to making ‘U-turns’, while his party was consistent on all issues.

    While the Congress supported agri reforms, it did not back laws which are “contrary to the interest of the farmers”, said the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister, who addressed two kisan panchayats in Dausa and Bharatpur recently, which saw a massive turnout.

    “First of all, they (BJP) made a U-turn on Aadhaar, then on GST, MGNREGA, FDI and so many issues. The Congress said we want to get new investments (in the agri sector) and technological inputs, want more ‘mandis’, liberalise the system, but never said we will make laws contrary to the interest of the farmers,” he said.

    Stressing that the government should set aside its “ego” and let go of its “stubbornness” to repeal the laws, Pilot said almost all political parties and even the BJP’s allies – be it the Akali Dal or Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) – opposed the laws.

    Both the Akali Dal and the RLP quit the BJP-led NDA, opposing the farm laws brought in by the government.

    “They were not able to convince their own NDA partners, how can they expect the farmers to be convinced by these laws and accept them,” Pilot said.

    “I don’t think they should make it a prestige issue,” the former Rajasthan Congress chief said.

    Asked if there could be a middle path or the repeal of laws was the only option, Pilot said the farmers have explicitly said that they want a complete withdrawal of the laws and the Congress stands firmly behind their demand.

    Criticising the three farm laws, Pilot said the first major problem with them is that they were made without consultation with any stakeholder as no farmer unions or state government was involved in the making of the laws.

    “Clearly these three laws that the government has made are not in the interest of the farmers because they are protecting everybody but the farmer.

    You dismantle the ‘mandi’ system and remove the stock limits, you are obviously encouraging large conglomerates and huge companies who can manage and maintain huge granaries”, which could lead to manipulation of the food grain market in the future, he claimed.

    Asked about the BJP’s assertion that the ‘mandi’ system will stay and the law only provides more options to the farmers, Pilot said that the BJP had also claimed that the farmers’ income will be doubled and Rs 15 lakh will be transferred in the accounts of people, none of which happened.

    “The law is in favour of a few individuals which will then control the sector.

    There is only so much food grain that is grown and harvested, if the government stops or drastically reduces procurement, where will the food security act go, from where will the food come for the supply for the PDS (public distribution system),” the 43-year-old leader said.

    He hailed the efforts of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for strongly opposing the laws and standing with the farmers while extending moral support to them in various places.

    “Mr Gandhi vehemently opposed the laws and he is coming to Rajasthan to give support to the demand of the farmers to repeal these laws.

    He is touring three or four agrarian districts and will take part in many ‘kisan sabhas’ and will meet farmers and give support to their demands,” he said of Gandhi’s two-day visit to the state on February 12-13.

    Referring to the multi-layered barricading and iron nails studded on roads at the protest sites on Delhi’s border points, Pilot said the farmers are sitting at the Delhi’s borders for the last 80 days and not a single incident of violence took place as they were agitating on truly Gandhian philosophy, but had to face severe intimidation.

    “What happened on Republic Day, every individual has condemned that.

    We have to investigate how that happened and now they have caught the main accused who is not a farmer,” Pilot said, referring to the violence in Delhi during the protesting farmer’s tractor rally on January 26.

    “The huge deployment, nails being dug and barricading, gave a sense that the government is attempting to suppress the farmers by oppressive means,” Pilot said.

    Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture.

  • BJP promises to double farmers’ income, but stands against them during crisis: Pilot

    He reiterated the demand of withdrawal of the Centre #39;s three contentious farm laws, saying the Congress is in support of the farmers.

  • Modi Government bent upon throttling farmers’ voice by banning Internet: Congress

    Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the government has shut the Internet in order to crush the farmers #39; agitation and demanded its restoration.

  • Modi government has hurt dignity and democratic system of India: Pilot targets Centre over farm laws

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Saturday alleged that the continuous failure of negotiations between the Centre and the farmers has revealed the BJP’s lack of understanding towards the rights of tillers.

    “By rejecting the demands of farmers and suppressing the call of justice, the central government has hurt the dignity and democratic system of the country,” the Congress leader said in a tweet.

    “The continuous failure of negotiations between the central government and the farmers has revealed BJP’s lack of understanding towards farming and the rights of tillers,” Pilot tweeted.

    Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points since November 28, demanding a repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

    Enacted in September last year, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their products anywhere in the country.

    However, the protesting farmers have expressed their apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP and do away with the “mandi” (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

  • Sachin Pilot reiterates demand for repeal of farm laws

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Monday reiterated the demand for withdrawal of new farm laws enacted by the Centre, claiming that the laws were a “threat” to the future of farmers.

    The Congress leader made the remarks while interacting with farmers in his constituency Tonk.

    “This is a matter related to the future of farmers. All farmer unions and opposition parties are united and demanding withdrawal of the laws. It is not clear what the government’s compulsions to bring these laws were. The laws should be withdrawn,” he told reporters.

    “We are making the farmers aware of the disadvantages of the laws. The farmers are agitating peacefully and the government should accept their demands,” Pilot said.

  • Reconstitution of Congress’ state unit has to be done in next two months: Former Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday said political appointments and reconstitution of the party’s state unit will be done within the time fixed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

    The work has to be completed in the next two months and the party high command is holding discussions on it, he said.

    “The AICC has been saying that be it political appointments or reconstitution of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the work will be completed within the stipulated time frame. The work has to be completed in the next two months,” the former deputy chief minister told reporters.

    Pilot reached Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s residence in the evening to attend the dinner the latter arranged for the party leaders.

    Pilot said the assembly elections are due in three years, so it should be ensured that Congress workers get suitable representation in the government so that the party is able to face future challenges.

  • Nationalism not giving speeches from Nagpur: Congress leader Sachin Pilot

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday appeared to target the RSS and said the nationalism was about the welfare of farmers and not giving speeches from Nagpur.

    “If we talk about the welfare of farmers then it is real nationalism. It is not nationalism when they deliver speeches from Nagpur wearing half-pants,” Pilot said without naming the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

    The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister said the BJP is “pushing farmers into darkness” with the new agriculture laws.

    He said that the Centre should understand that a government will not be defeated if it rolls back any of its decision.

    Doing amendments, withdrawing laws or feeling sorry raises the stature of leaders, Pilot added.

    “I think in coming days we will collectively create pressure and work together for the welfare of farmers,” he said.