Ideas Of India 2025: Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Saturday spoke about the widening rift with INDIA bloc partner AAP. Explaining why the rift keeps widening with each state election, he hinted that the Congress had made several sacrifices but its partners were unwavering in their stance over seat sharing.
After Congress was unable to reach a seat-sharing agreement with the AAP in the recently concluded Delhi assembly elections, the party drew blank. Pilot also termed the loss in last year's Haryana state elections as 'unexpected' and said that it was AAP's decision to contest the elections, where Congress lost with marginal vote percentage difference. Pilot said that Congress has aligned with INDIA bloc partners at its own cost. "It is wrong to say that Congress doesn't know how to bow to allies. We know how to take everyone along. Only Congress can challenge the BJP. Other parties have their own relevance in politics," he said on the rifts with INDIA bloc partner AAP.
Speaking on the Congress's repeated losses in polls and the apparent popularity of PM Modi, former Rajasthan Deputy CM said, "The Idea of India cannot be limited to one party or one leader. The entire nation's idea and choice cannot be reflected in poll wins."
"We have lost in some polls and we are performing our duties as a responsible Opposition. The BJP said it would win 400 seats, but was limited to 240," Pilot said.
Pilot, who is also AICC general secretary-in charge of Chhattisgarh, voiced the concern that issue-based politics has taken a backseat, as the Centre is focusing on winning elections through cyclical templates rather than addressing pressing matters.
While speaking on conflicts with Ashok Gehlot in the past, the MLA from Tonk said that there is no personal enmity. "You will see how the two of us work together to bring in an unprecedented mandate in the next elections," Pilot added.