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Rama Pilot is ready to start where 'Rajeshji' left

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Rama Pilot, widow of Congress leader Rajesh Pilot, who died in a road accident three months back, is yet to come to terms with the loss. Though she has begun building a new life around the work her husband has left unfinished, it would take time before she feels comfortable in this new world.

To begin with, Rama will fill in the void "Rajeshji's" death has created in Dausa, his constituency. She was nominated as the Congress candidate for the by-election which takes place later this month.

"I met Sonia Gandhi a couple of times after the death of my husband. She asked me what was I planning to do next. She asked me if I was prepared to contest elections. I gave her my consent... I knew that was the only way to take my husband's work forward," said Rama when this correspondent called on her in Delhi on Tuedsay.

She is aware that playing Rajesh Pilot to his admirers, voters and colleagues would be a tough call. The strain, in fact, is evident already.

"Party workers tend to compare me to Rajeshji... that's grossly unfair. I do not have the kind of energy he had. I need time," Rama said.

But wouldn't she be better off away from the murky world of politics?

"I have been serving the people ever since Rajeshji came into politics. For over 20 years our doors have been open to the ordinary people. Farmers consider our home as their own. How can I suddenly shut the doors now," Rama asked.

Rama denied that her husband had any differences with anybody within the party. "He was not the kind of person to have differences with anyone. He never harmed anyone. I have been hearing many stories...but there is no truth in them," she said.

On the Women's Reservation Bill, Rama said the Union government's inability to table it in Parliament should not disappoint anybody. "Nobody denies the need to reserve seats for women...it's just a matter of time before the bill - in one form or the other - becomes a law."

Like her husband, Rama too believes that Congress is losing its grip. "Yes, there is something wrong somewhere... people are not happy with the party. We must sit down and put our heads together and work harder to win back the confidence of the people," she said.

And this is what she plans to do now that the party has given her a green signal to file her nomination from Dausa. "The electorate will compare me with Rajeshji. I would need to come up to their expectations. I would strive hard to win the seat for the party. Ishwar ne saath diya to woh bhi ho jayega," she said.

ALSO SEE
Who was driving rashly - Pilot or bus driver?
'Daddy taught us to be positive'

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