The budding friendship between the two leaders, separated in age by almost three decades, is the talk of the town
Amid a manic scramble for tickets and verbal duels as Rajasthan approaches election day, bromance is brewing between two Congress heavyweights. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and aspirant to the post, Sachin Pilot, were seen sharing a bike ride less than a fortnight ago, prompting party workers to dub them 'Jai-Veeru'.
The ride came after several weeks of undermining each other in their bid to occupy 8 Civil Lines, the chief ministerial residence.
The budding friendship between the two leaders, separated in age by almost three decades, is the talk of the town.
Earlier this month, the two shared a bus ride from Jodhpur to Pachpadra in border district Barmer to address a rally. What surprised the fellow partymen was that they chose to sit next to each other throughout the road trip — Gehlot in the window seat and Pilot next to him.
Days later, while canvassing in tribal Karauli, Pilot borrowed a worker's bike to navigate narrow lanes packed with Congress supporters to get to the rally venue, Trilok Chand Mathur Stadium.
"Pilot and Gehlot had to get off their cars some 10 km before the venue as there was no scope for movement. Pilot borrowed a bike from a worker and invited Gehlot to ride pillion with him, which he gladly accepted," a party worker said. The two rode to the venue, to the surprise of local workers who hailed them as 'Jai-Veeru' of the Grand Old Party, in a reference to the friendship between the two lead characters of the epic film Sholay.
Gehlot, who has been elevated to the post of general secretary, still wishes for a third term as chief minister of Rajasthan. Supporters of Pilot, who is the state Congress chief, take him to be the rightful contender to the post.
In a media briefing recently, when Gehlot was asked about the chief ministerial face of the party, he gestured towards his own, saying: "When the face has been in front of you for 10 years, where is the need of talking about a new face?"
Pilot maintained silence on the issue, saying: "Right now our goal is to make Congress win the polls. I am not the face of the CM in state," he said. However, former union minister and senior Congress leader, CP Joshi, in one of the public events, announced that the assembly election campaign would be spearheaded by Pilot.
Congress refused to declare any leader as the face of the campaign in Rajasthan. Avinash Pandey, state party in-charge and AICC general secretary, after an executive meeting attended by both Gehlot and Pilot declared, "Congress will contest all elections under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi."
The friendship can be traced back to August 11 that Congress candidates got the first glimpse of the brotherhood between the two warring chieftains. It was the day, Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrived in Jaipur to kick off the party's campaign for the Assembly elections. After addressing the workers at the Ramlila Maidan, Rahul prompted Sachin and Gehlot to hug each other. The two followed the cue and embraced each other like long-lost friends before an amused audience. Earlier, during the same event, Rahul Gandhi got Gehlot to sit next to Pilot on the stage sending the message right down to the last line of workers.
Since, then the Jai-Veeru act continues to run to full house.
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 "Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot")
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