Cong unleashes loose cannon Digvijaya on Ramdev

Unflattering descriptions sit rather easy on Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Loose cannon, enfant terrible, party’s resident dissident, Hindu baiter, rabble rouser – the royal from Madhya Pradesh has been called all things in recent years. He seems to be enjoying the notoriety, and the limelight his seemingly outrageous statements attract; the latest is his diatribe against Baba Ramdev. “The government can’t allow people like Ramdev to run riot in the capital. He was dealt with in the way a crook deserves to be dealt with,” Singh said hours after the Delhi Police cracked down on the supporters of Baba Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan. He also called the Baba a “thug’’ and said, “Baba Ramdev has been duping people for ages and now he wanted to fool the government.” [caption id=“attachment_20669” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Digvijaya Singh seems to be enjoying the notoriety, and the limelight his seemingly outrageous statements attract; the latest is his diatribe against Baba Ramdev. Reuters”]  [/caption] Digvijaya’s animosity towards the Baba is well-known, but so is his ability to make unpopular statements. It is possible his provocative pronouncements are part of the larger Congress political game plan to discredit challengers and potential trouble-makers. But with the wily Digvijaya you can never be too sure. The two-time chief minister of Madhya Pradesh has been purposefully unpredictable and voluble all these years. Singh struck a discordant note immediately after the Batla House encounter in Delhi on 19 September 2008 where two suspected terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen were gunned down by the police. Just as the nation was lauding the bravery of Mohan Chand Sharma, the encounter specialist who was killed in the incident, he raised doubts about the genuineness of the encounter. “The bullet wounds were on the head, which is not possible in cross-fire,” said Singh at a meeting in Azamgarh, obviously playing to his Muslim gallery, and raising doubts over the encounter. The sharp reactions were predictable. The BJP and other outfits called it the ugliest manifestation of vote bank politics. Embarrassed, the Congress distanced itself from the remark. Though Digvijaya denied making any such comment later, he had probably got what he wanted. He had divided public opinion and regained some goodwill for the party in the minority community. The tactic was evident when he blamed the RSS and other Right wing outfits for the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast. He did the same when he raked up a telephonic conversation with slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare, where the latter apparently expressed concerns about the pressure from the Sangh Parivar. These alleged conversations can never be proved, but then Digvijaya was only trying to score tactical points over the Right even while antagonising his own party in Maharashtra and at the Centre. This was the case with the Batla House encounter too. His stated position on the Maoists also runs counter to that of home minister P Chidambaram’s. Interestingly, Digvijaya has managed to escape unscathed after all his run-ins with his own party. His recklessness could be part of the party’s ploy to distract the public sentiment. It could be helping the party gauge the public response by default. He could also be making the leadership look more honourable. But having him around certainly helps the party play to two different galleries – presenting a moderate face to the mainstream electorate, and a more pro-minority one for another segment. Ever since Babri Masjid, the Congress has been trying to woo Muslims back into the fold. Digvijaya is obviously part of that strategy, which is why he never gets pulled up for his discordant posturing. Digvijaya, who represents the old guard of India’s own Grand Old Party, stands in sharp contrast to the post-socialist leadership. He brings in the old world sensitivity to the party, and also the old school political skullduggery. He is a man easy to hate but difficult to discard.