Sachin Pilot's hard work pays off

New Delhi [India] Dec 14 (ANI): Following Congress' crushing defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sachin Pilot vowed not to wear a turban until the party returned to power. It is now time for the 41-year-old leader to grace the headgear again as he has been made the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

His hard work in Rajasthan has paid off and the Congress has once again bloomed in the state after the awful defeat in 2013 when the party was reduced to 21 seats, even lesser than 1977, post Emergency, when the Congress won 41 seats. The party failed to bag a single seat from the state in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

 

Rahul Gandhi had given Pilot the task of rebuilding the party in the state. He shifted his base to Rajasthan and he worked hard for past five years to fulfil the responsibility with satisfaction.

In the past, Pilot was always seen through the prism of his father Rajesh Pilot's achievements despite him being a union minister during the Congress-led government.

That perception hopefully will change now as the water has been tasted. He dedicated all his time and re-energised the party in the state, and proved his leadership capability.

Pilot, who belongs to the Gujjar community that constitutes 5-6 per cent of the voters of the state, was elected as the Member of Parliament from his father's constituency Dausa in 2004, thereby becoming the youngest MP. He was elected again from Ajmer in 2009.

It was not just his supporters who felt that the young leader should be given his due credit but even in Congress corridors on Akbar Road it was strongly felt that his hard work should be recognised.

Pilot, during his tenure as MP, was a member of the Parliament's Standing Committee on Home Affairs, consultative committee in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and also Budget Estimates Committee of Parliament.

The scholar, who did his graduation in English Literature from the St Stephens College in Delhi, went on to get an MBA degree from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.

But all that is past now as he dons the Deputy Chief Minister's gown. With the Assembly elections over, the bugle for 2019 General elections has been sounded, at least, for the party's rank and file. He being a young leader and the party having huge expectations from him, it is time for Pilot to stand his ground and take Congress to new heights in the state as well as the nation.