Out of power after a brief stint, the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh is gearing up to make a comeback in the year 2023, but internal equations within the party may paint a different picture in contrast to the party’s ambitious goals.
Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Kamal Nath has been on fire within the party for some time now. The 75-year-old is also sending out a loud and clear message that nothing can be decided in the party without his consent.
For a long time, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh has held two positions – the party’s state chief and the leader of opposition (LOP) in the MP assembly.
Even the voices longing for the designation have done nothing so far and it is unlikely that the post of Leader of the Opposition will go to anyone else.
Internal conflict
Several senior party leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh, have learned lessons from hard work in recent times. Many believe that this is a direct result of the bitter experience of the former Chhindwara MP after the 2018 assembly elections.
For one reason or the other, many senior leaders of the party are angry. At first, Digvijay Singh, who had been at loggerheads with the MPCC chief over several issues, seemed troubled by a recent episode.
Singh had staged a protest near the CM residence after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan allegedly did not offer him appointment on the issues of Rajgarh farmers. When Nath said that he was not aware of the dharna, he made it clear that he was not aware of this important political development.
While Nath joined, he had a brief conversation with Chouhan at the state hangar. Moreover, days after the protest, farmers led by Singh met the chief minister in the company of the MPCC chief.
Digvijay Singh was later heard in a viral video talking about the party’s scattered vision towards 2023, “If we do not fight collectively, the Congress will not return to power and the leaders will have no workers in the future.” not available.”
About other key members
Recently, former MPCC president Arun Yadav is also having a rift with Kamal Nath. Yadav had made his displeasure public after Nath was ousted as the party’s state chief after he took office in 2018. Since then Yadav was not visiting the MPCC office and did not even attend party meetings. Both he and Digvijay Singh ensured Rajnarayan Singh a ticket for the Lok Sabha bypoll, while Yadav was seen as a definite candidate for it.
However, Yadav learned of the developments even before the name of the candidate was announced and soon announced that he would withdraw his candidature for the by-election, which the party eventually lost. As of now, the ice is yet to break between the party leadership and Yadav, who has been the OBC poster boy for the grand old party for years.
Meanwhile, things are not the same for Ajay Singh, son of former Leader of Opposition and late Congress veteran Arjun Singh. He had lost to Shardendu Tiwari, the first BJP MLA, in his home turf Churhat since he lost the assembly elections in 2018.
Subsequently, Nath and Singh had an exchange of words as the former blamed the Vindhya region for the low majority achieved by the Congress in the 2018 assembly elections. It is important to mention here that Singh is a regional satrap who has been controlling the region for years.
Now, Singh is trying to regain his lost political ground. Last year he met BJP leaders but after the news surfaced publicly, he resolved that he would always be with the Congress party.
Besides this, senior leader Dr. Govind Singh, who has been the Leader of the Opposition in the MP Vidhan Sabha in the past, is also longing for the post and has made his wish public on several occasions. Since his wish was not fulfilled, Dr Singh has also not been very active in party affairs. After the departure of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Dr Singh is one of the few well-known faces who have survived the Congress camp in the Gwalior-Chambal region. However, when the MPCC chief visited Bhind for the Jan Aakrosh rally on Wednesday, Dr Singh was seen accompanying him.
Another prominent face, Kantilal Bhuria, has also confined himself to his home constituency of Jhabua after losing the Lok Sabha election and winning the by-election as an MLA. To add, Bhuria has been the tribal face of the party in the state for years. There is also a reason for her to be angry because her son and Youth Congress President Dr Vikrant was not fielded in the Jobat bypoll last year, which the party lost.
Jitu Patwari, the party’s ‘General Next’ leader and once a close aide of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has also been briefly defeated inside and outside the assembly. Though he remains active in party engagements, it is not the same for Patwari, who has been in the limelight for cornering the BJP government with his fiery speeches and protests.
The party’s position is showing a mess after Kamal Nath recently launched the ‘Ghar Ghar Chalo’ campaign to increase ground connectivity. However, most of the senior party leaders missed out on participating in the campaign due to one reason or the other.
MP Mahila Congress state executive dissolved
Organizational chaos came to the fore again after the MP Mahila Congress announced the dissolution of the state executive on Wednesday, weeks after Archana Srivastava was appointed Mahila Congress chief. Factionalism seemed to be present here as well as the four senior vice presidents were spared the action and would continue to hold their positions. After the formation of the state executive, several senior party functionaries had resigned following a dispute over organizational appointments.
analysis of political pundits
A senior political journalist on condition of anonymity questioned Kamal Nath’s attitude and efficacy as the state head. “Factionalism is inherent in Congress in Madhya Pradesh as workers believe in their leader and not in the party. It is the same at present as they have no new leadership, and the one who can lead (read Scindia) is gone,” said the journalist, pitting the party against an organization (BJP), The one who keeps the party at the top despite internal differences and also hides the discord.
The political commentator claimed, “The workers of the party (BJP) have a strong grassroots affiliation unlike the Congress party, where workers and leaders stay away from the ground realities.”
Taking a weak stand on things under Kamal Nath’s leadership, another senior political analyst from MP said that Nath is currently the best bet as he has the necessary financial resources to run the party and is a better option than the unregulated Digvijay Singh. And far better than the second rung. leaders. “Change is possible only when Congress performs brilliantly in five state elections and Rahul Gandhi gets better bids in party affairs against old leaders.”
He said Nath’s action of taking away powers from party seniors appears to be a reaction to the 2018 debacle and that he has decided to call the shots in a centralized manner that is visible with his party meetings and state visits.
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