Sachin Pilot, who is now projecting his rebellion as a fight for “principles”, appears to be making a virtue out of a compulsion because he had little option left but to surrender to the Congress after a key associate betrayed him.

Top sources revealed to The Telegraph that the veteran Bhanwar Lal Sharma, one of the main conspirators to pull down the Ashok Gehlot government, slipped out and met Congress general secretary in charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal on Sunday. He expressed deep regret for his actions and pledged his support and that of five more MLAs to the Congress. Another MLA slipped out on Sunday night and reached Jaipur on Monday morning.

Venugopal, in consultation with Ahmed Patel, asked Sharma to return to Jaipur immediately and meet chief minister Ashok Gehlot. His absence created panic in the Pilot camp, which was on a hunt for him. Sharma, 75, spent Sunday night in hiding, at a relative’s place in Delhi, and left for Jaipur early next morning.

The Congress had planned to present him before the media by Monday afternoon.

After his lieutenant’s exit, Pilot was left with no option and swiftly decided to call it quits. While Sharma was already on his way to Jaipur in the morning, Pilot met Rahul Gandhi at 1pm. The meeting was set up through Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who Pilot got in touch with only after he realised that Gehlot had sailed through the crisis.

It was presumed that Sharma left for Jaipur because Pilot met Rahul, but it was actually the other way round. Sharma, a seven-term MLA, had fled with all the secrets and plans of the Pilot group, signalling a collapse of the rebellion.

A Congress leader told The Telegraph: “Pilot moved swiftly in a smart act instead of returning to the party after August 14 when Gehlot would have proved his majority. That would have further diminished his stature and bargaining capacity. It is the magnanimity and grace of Rahul Gandhi who embraced him despite full knowledge of the developments. Rahul knew there is no threat to the government at all.”

Party leaders, however, are willing to let bygones be bygones and make life easy for Pilot. One senior leader said: “Leadership is not developed overnight. We have invested heavily in Pilot and he has developed into a formidable leader. He is young and has committed a mistake in impatience. That was juvenile and we have forgiven him. Things should be normal for him after a short cooling-off period.”

Assessing the role played by various leaders during this unseemly episode, insiders believe the maximum credit should go to the 100 Congress MLAs who refused to yield under abnormal pressure and allurements.

“It is primarily because of them that we won this war. Gehlot was vigilant and protected his flock with amazing energy and political acumen. Only after these two, the role of strategy-makers comes,” one source said, insisting that this was a wonderful example of collective effort as both seniors and younger leaders worked together to protect the party’s pride.

Four persons played a critical role in salvaging the situation: Ahmed Patel, K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Ajay Maken. They poured in all their energies to crush the rebellion of their “dear friend Pilot” who would not have expected the party to stand behind Gehlot with such solidity. The management was so effective that Congress MLAs, apparently so saleable in Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and other states, refused to take the bait in Rajasthan.

Asked about the gossip in political circles about the pressure mounted by Farooq Abdullah, who is Pilot’s father-in-law, one leader said: “That’s rubbish. Why did that pressure not work before he revolted? Why not when he opted for vicious legal battles? Why did the pressure become effective only when the survival of the Gehlot government became inevitable? The Congress has defeated a rebellion with deft management and the credit to Pilot is that he avoided crash-landing. He abandoned the self-destructive path in time.”

Asked about the bitterness, party communications chief Surjewala said: “Some bitterness and heated exchanges did happen but it is a closed chapter for us now. With Rahul Gandhi’s foresight and resolve to take everybody together, we have overcome this crisis. Now we will work together to focus on Rajasthan’s development and fighting Covid-19. Pilot has reaffirmed his faith in the Congress and his commitment to serve the party. All the differences will be resolved now.”

On the BJP’s involvement in the month-long drama, he said: “The BJP was so eager to pull down the government, fishing in troubled waters to grab power by hook or by crook. They hired three aircraft to take their MLAs to Gujarat because they were not sure of their loyalty. They could not hold a meeting of their legislature party even once.”

Congress leaders do acknowledge the positive role played by BJP veteran Vasundhara Raje, who was not willing to aid the conspiracy hatched by Gajendra Singh Sekhawat in collusion with his central bosses.