Hyderabad: Do you still remember the sombre picture of Rahul Gandhi coming out of party headquarters after 2019 Lok Sabha results, sister Priyanka Gandhi consoling him after the party's insurmountable loss. After the loss in 2014 and 2019, Rahul Gandhi's political journey came to a full circle. He tested his luck twice against Narendra Modi and lost.
After the results, Rahul Gandhi showed the sense of despondency but much more than that there was a sense of ownership for the loss. Rahul Gandhi had fought an unequal battle against the duo of Modi and Shah tooth and nail but lost it.
Rahul resigned from his post of party Presidentship and appealed the Congress Working Committee to choose his successor.
What happened in the congress party was a complete redux, Sonia Gandhi had no option but to accept the party's reign, though unwillingly.
Sonia Gandhi was made the interim president of the party, however, Sonia had indicated that she was not in a position to lead the campaign in the rough of the tumble of Indian elections anymore due to her ill health.
Journalists covering AICC will affirm this belief that people close to Ashok Gehlot had started plotting against Pilot since Pilot's name was being discussed in the Congress circles as a possible replacement of Rahul Gandhi.
They wanted to neutralise any opposition to Rahul Gandhi hence situation was created to jettison Sachin pilot out of the way. It is not surprising that seventy years after independence Congress has not been able to break its ties with the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Read: Rajasthan Political Crisis: Sachin Pilot holds meeting with loyalists at Gurugram resort
In the battleground, you win or lose but what people remember is how did you fight and based on their performance, they give you a second chance. People of India did not disappoint the Congress party in the great political battle of 2018, which was perceived to be the semifinals before 2019 Lok sabha polls.
Congress won the elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh with ease. In MP and Chattisgarh, Congress party was out of power for the past 15 years.
It was no surprise that BJP had to bit the dust after their “super se upar” performance under the leadership of Narendra Modi.
However, what happened after the result was for everyone to see. The fight between old and new ensued in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The government could not be formed because of internecine bickering with two camps led by Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot respectively.
Pilot was upset because Ashok Gehlot did not respect the arrangement made during government formation.
Read: Times when Ashok Gehlot outplayed his detractors in the past
It all started with Madhya Pradesh where old congress hand, Kamalnath and Digvijay Singh tried to suppress and sideline Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was asking for a bigger piece of the pie in the government.
A similar incident was witnessed in Haryana when peeved Ashok Tanwar resigned from the party citing lack of democracy.
Sanjay Jha, the former national spokesperson of the Congress party, was sacked from his post after he wrote about the lack of internal democracy. Congress leader Jitin Prasad was livid in his praise for the hard work done by Sachin Pilot in bringing Congress back to power in Rajasthan.
Deependra Hooda, son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, also raised his voice in Sachin Pilot's favour and emphasised on the need of retaining mass leaders.
