Can Kamal Nath defuse Rajasthan crisis?

In a bid to avert a Punjab-like debacle in Rajasthan, the Congress leadership has roped in senior party leader Kamal Nath to mediate between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.

Reportedly, Kamal Nath met with Pilot and party general secretary KC Venugopal in Delhi on Thursday to find potential solutions to the ugly, bitter feud between the two warring leaders.

Ahead of the upcoming Rajasthan assembly election, Pilot has emerged as a major headache for Gehlot than the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.

Pilot, who is a CM hopeful has been voicing allegations of corruption against the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan. Stepping up his attack, Pilot also sat on a day-long fast against his own government, putting Congress in a difficult situation.

While the party initially backed Ashok Gehlot and warned Pilot of actions, it has now changed its stance and is trying to broker peace between the top two leaders in the state.

The Congress leadership is also upset with the way the newly appointed in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa handled the situation.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wants an early solution to the rift as the party is also aware of the huge anti-incumbency wave against Gehlot ahead of the crucial polls slated later this year.

Kamal Nath, who is known as a troubleshooter for Congress has had several meetings with the Rajasthan leaders, to pacify the situation.

This is not the first time that Congress has roped in Nath, a former Union minister who had been a Lok Sabha MP for nine terms, to troubleshoot.

Nath was sent to Maharashtra to save the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress following a rebellion within the Sena.

However, the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned in June owing to a lack of numbers, paving the way for rebel Eknath Shinde to take oath as the CM with the support of the BJP.