By Archana Sharma Jaipur, Nov 26th : , The long-awaited Rajasthan cabinet expansion has been completed.Former Deputy Chief Minister and chief of the state Congress Sachin Pilot is happy that his loyalists were inducted.
Two former ministers, Vishvendra Singh (left) and Ramesh Mahesh Meena (right), have also returned to office after being expelled from the cabinet in the wake of last year’s rebellion.
Pilot now states that his priority is to ensure his party’s continued power in the state at the next polls.
However, he is also open to taking on any responsibility that the Congress leadership may assign to him.
The popular Congress leader spoke out in an exclusive interview with IANS about a variety of issues.Here are some excerpts:
Q: Your demand to reward Congress workers was accepted and they were inducted into government.What will your role be in the party/state now?
A: I have been working for the Congress since the beginning of my career 20-years ago as an MP, MLA, and state chief.While I’m open to doing whatever the party wants, my priority is to deliver in Rajasthan, which is my home state.This state is my karmabhoomi and my priority is to see that Congress wins.
I am also available to accept any other responsibility that the party delegated.
I have been working and campaigning for the party in different parts of the country, including Kerala, Karnataka and UP.I will work hard wherever the party asks me to.
Q: Will you be leading the next Assembly election?
A: The 2018 Assembly elections were held under a collective leadership.It was decided that there would not be a CM face and that we will contest the next election under a collective leadership.As per the trend, our Congress central leadership should lead from the front.
Q: Are all your concerns resolved?
A: We are close to elections in 2023, so we need to be ready both within the government and in the organization for the challenge.So I raised some issues that were delayed by Mr Ahmed Patel’s passing, the Covid pandemic, and other issues.
We are finally moving in the right direction.
In the Rajasthan cabinet, there has been no Dalit minister for two years.
I wanted to see the communities that voted for us get the recognition they deserve in the government.I am happy that the AICC has made sure that there is adequate representation of women, minorities, and tribals in the state government.
I believe that more changes will be made to the organisation in order to ensure that we are ready for battle in 2023.We must win state elections and end the cycle of alternate governments coming into power every five years.
This is something that will require the support and cooperation of the people.We will have better chances of winning 2023 Lok Sabha elections.
We did not win any seat in the previous Lok Sabha elections.We should do much better this time.
Q: Do you think the delay of more than a year in expanding the cabinet can have an impact on the next elections?
A: I strongly believe that it is better to be late than never.It was time to do what needed to be done.
Because of its pan-India presence, Congress is the only party that can defeat the BJP at the national level.It connects from North and South.
Now, expansion and balancing have been completed with a lot interest from our top leaders such as Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
We want to increase the energy of our workers so they are ready for the 2023 elections.
We will be contesting the 2024 parliamentary elections with the same enthusiasm once we have won the 2023 polls.I want to end 30 years of cycle, and now that there is balanced representation from leaders from different segments, it seems we are ready for the challenge.
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