Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who is in Madhya Pradesh to campaign for the upcoming bypolls, met his old friend and former party colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is now in the BJP camp and in a very refreshing gesture by a politician wished him all the best for the campaigns.
According to reports, Pilot and Scindia briefly met at the Gwalior airport where Scindia reportedly told "all the best" to Pilot, who is in the state to address campaign rallies in the Gwalior-Chambal region, which is known as the Scindia bastion.
Pilot arrived in Madhya Pradesh for a two-day visit on Tuesday morning to campaign for Congress candidates as a star campaigner in Gwalior, Shivpuri, Bhind and Morena districts of the state.
Interestingly, while Madhya Pradesh has been witnessing vitriolic campaigns, with leaders spewing venom against each other at rallies, both Scindia and Pilot have not named each other even once.
Both the leaders are trying to avoid attacking each other directly in the election meetings. This can be gauged from the fact that when Sachin Pilot was asked that whether Scindia is a traitor, after all, as the Congress government collapsed because of him, Pilot said that every person has the right to make their own decisions and the people will be the final judge of what is wrong or right. Making it obvious that Sachin tried to avoid attacking Scindia directly. At the same time, he also called his meeting with Scindia a normal one.
Read: Viral video poking fun at Congress triggers war of words
Sachin attacked Shivraj instead
Sachin Pilot and Acharya Pramod Krishnan came to address a public meeting in support of the Congress candidates in Narwar and Satanwara of Pohri and Karaira Legislative Assembly in the Shivpuri district. It was noticed that Sachin refused to attack Scindia directly. However, he did have things to say about the Shivraj government.
Scindia fond of Sachin
Political analysts believe that Sachin Pilot is not speaking against Scindia. There is nothing behind it but just that friendship is above politics. Scindia and Sachin Pilot's friendship is not hidden from anyone. Both have been members of the same party for a long time. Both have inherited a strong political base. Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot were recognized as the young faces after Rahul Gandhi in the Congress. After Scindia joined BJP, Sachin also thought of leaving Congress. At the moment, everything seems fine and Sachin-Scindia's friendship remains even after the separation of parties.
The Congress' move of sending Pilot to campaign in Madhya Pradesh is being seen as its move to counter Scindia's sway among young voters. Further, nine of the 28 constituencies are dominated by Gurjars, the community Pilot belongs to.
Has Congress’ plan 'failed'?
The Congress had sent Sachin Pilot as a special strategy for the campaigning in the Gwalior-Chambal area. It has many political aspects. One is the number of Gujjar votes in the region, the other is considered to be Scindia's area of influence and the Congress is constantly attacking Scindia, so the party leaders were expecting that Pilot would also attack Scindia too. But, in the three meetings on Tuesday, Pilot did not even mention his old friend. Scindia. It is believed that Sachin has not met the expectations of Congress.
Congress's message to Scindia through Sachin
Congress wants to show Scindia that loyalty bears fruit and that Sachin Pilot is not only seen as the face of Rajasthan, but he will also be their national leader. Sachin is not only part of the Madhya Pradesh by-election, but also a part of the Congress team in the Bihar elections.
By-elections to 28 Assembly seats in the state are scheduled on November 3.
Earlier in July, Pilot and 18 other MLAs rebelled against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, leading to Pilot''s sacking as deputy chief minister and state party chief.
Following his patch-up talks with senior Congress leaders, the political crisis was resolved after nearly a month.
Read: When CM Chouhan and I have joined hands, there's nothing left in the opposition: Scindia
