Sacked Sanjay Jha wants Sachin Pilot to take over as Congress chief after poll drubbing

After Congress' embarrassing defeat in all five states in the assembly elections, sacked party leader Sanjay Jha on Thursday demanded a change in Congress leadership. In an abysmal defeat, Congress was reduced to mere 18 seats while AAP stormed to its maiden victory in Punjab, winning 92 seats. Congress also failed to stop BJP from retaining Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand.

Reacting to the poll drubbing, Sanjay Jha pitted Sachin Pilot as the potential leader to replace Sonia Gandhi as Congress President. Notably, Pilot, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan, is a close aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

"Sachin Pilot. Congress President. It is time to give him the responsibility of leading the Congress," said the former INC Spokesperson, who was expelled by Sonia Gandhi in 2020. Listing the qualities that make Pilot suitable for steering the Congress, Jha said, "He is a hard-working, 24x7 leader, accessible, hungry to win, and an outstanding communicator"

Once a rebel leader, Pilot had caused a near debacle of the Congress regime in Rajasthan in 2020, owing to his differences with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The demand for appointing Pilot as Congress President comes despite calls within the party for re-appointing Rahul Gandhi to the position. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Rahul Gandhi had quit as Congress chief two years ago, taking responsibility for the embarrassing debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. His resignation threw the party into a leadership crisis from which it hasn't fully recovered and prompted the reinstatement of his mother, Sonia Gandhi, as interim chief.

However, later in July, it became evident that Rahul Gandhi will not be taking up the mantle again as Congress chief, and 74-year-old Sonia Gandhi was then elected to remain Congress interim chief till 2024.