In Madhya Pradesh, Cong readies to gift hat-trick to BJP on a platter

by Chandna C. Arora Bhopal: With the winds of anti-incumbency blowing heavy against the ruling government, wresting back Madhya Pradesh from the BJP should be a walk in the park for the Congress. But the party, trapped in layers of suicidal factional battles, looks set to shoot itself in the foot again. Out of power in its traditional stronghold for a decade primarily due to debilitating ego conflicts among local satraps, the Congressmen have obviously learnt no lessons from the past. “Congressmen will sink all their differences before upcoming Assembly polls in MP,” said Jyotiraditya Scindia recently. For those in the know of the state of party affairs, it was more a statement of hope than of firm conviction. Infighting has left the party in a pathetic state. Till 2003, the state was considered a Congress bastion as no non-Congress government had ever completed its five-year term. But the BJP government which came to power in December 2003, went on not only to complete its full term, but also to win the 2008 assembly polls. The party looks set to hand Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chowhan a hat-trick on a platter. This while his government has broken all records for corruption, failed to control crime and violence, failed to provide basic amenities to the people of the state and gone full-throttle into negative governance. The long story of factionalism in the Congress revolves around three major power centres - Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia - all national players. [caption id=“attachment_677869” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The senior Congress leader is among those unwilling to let go of his influence in the state. PTI[/caption] Digvijaya, even after his self-inflicted exile, never did let go of his hold on state politics. He still has a wide base of loyalists who are in the opposition, as well as in hibernation. He has a very strong electoral base in the Guna-Rajgarh region. He also controls all major Congress outfits in the state. His protégé’s occupy all the positions of power today. Kamal Nath, with a base limited to Chhindwara district and parts of Mahakaushal region, is now hardly visible in day-to-day state politics. Yet his keen interest in the key positions and ticket for his followers is a well-known fact. Scindia, the power minister at the Centre, has his base in Gwalior-Chambal region. He has also inherited his father Madhavrao Scindia’s followers. He suddenly became active in state politics around six months ago and is presently trying hard to project himself as the Congress’ chief ministerial candidate. While there are no signals to that effect from the Congress high command, his efforts are nonetheless causing disturbances in the existent party hierarchy. Apart from these power centres, the state PCC chief Kantilal Bhuria is a tribal leader with influence in the districts of western Madhya Pradesh. Tribal and SC votes make up almost one third of the total voters in the state. Leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Rahul Singh, the son of late Arjun Singh has influence in the Vindhya region. Digvijaya is the most powerful of Congress leaders in the state. His loyalists include state PCC chief, Kantilal Bhuria, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Singh, Deputy Speaker of the MP Assembly Harvansh Singh. Along with countless other followers - those he inherited from his mentor Arjun Singh, and those he acquired during his long tenure first as state PCC chief and then as CM - give him an edge over all other leaders of Congress. Yet there is serious infighting in his own camp too. Bhuria may be the state PCC Chief but it is Harvansh Singh who is Diggy Raja’s most trusted lieutenant. Their collaboration back to the time when Digvijaya was PCC chief, and Harvansh Singh managed his back-room operations. Harvansh Singh cannot presently accept an official party position as he is Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly. Yet he sits in his full glory at the party office in Bhopal and as a result, at times, disregarding PCC chief Bhuria’s instructions remains in public eye. A similar equation exists between Bhuria and Rahul Singh. Both of them are in the running for the chief ministerial slot in the coming elections. Whether Congress gets the state or not, the war between these two chief minister- hopefuls are interesting to watch. Bhuria throws his weight around as PCC chief. Rahul Singh and senior party leaders are told to inform and take Bhuria’s permission if they want to counter BJP on any front, go for rallies or engage in other political campaigns. The situation right now is so bad that the major leaders refuse to share the same platform during important Congress programmes. Recently party bigwigs Digvijaya Singh, Union ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia refused to attend the Congress Convention in Vidisha. AICC general secretary BK Hariprasad, Kantilal Bhuria, Ajay Singh, Suresh Pachori, Harvansh Singh were the only leaders who addressed the convention. [caption id=“attachment_677881” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Scindia looking for a role in state politics? PTI[/caption] Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi witnessed the sorry state when Bhuria told him that the Congress could win in the state, but only if union ministers Scindia and Nath co-operate with the MPCC. Rahul was also present when Ujjain Lok Sabha member Prem Chand Guddu verbally attacked Scindia. While Guddu called Scindia names, other party members prevented veteran leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi from speaking in favour of Scindia. With Scindia gunning for the chief ministerial slot, Digvijaya promptly launched his son Jaywardhan Singh from his own constituency. Digvijaya’s son is still studying the US and is strapped for time to an extent that he could not even spend more than a day at his own palace during his mother’s funeral, this move is seen as one to directly counter Scindia’s entry into state politics. That Digvijaya stood with garlands in his hands to welcome Scindia at Guna, and pronounced that from then onwards Jyotraditya would be like his son, is another matter. When Scindia asked for ‘one chance’ to teach BJP a lesson, rather than the opposition, there were more reactions that came from his own party men. “How many chances does he want?”, quipped State PCC President, Kantilal Bhuria. Pointing to the lacklustre party performance since 2003 with Scindia around, Bhuria wanted to know why Scindia was not happy with his current position of a central minister with charge of power ministry. According to him, these were all chances that the erstwhile prince had either squandered or was in the process of squandering. In an ineffectual bid to set things straight, Congress leader and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, BK Hariprasad, recently claimed that there was “no hatred amongst party leaders in the state” bringing again to the fore the unpleasant fact that Congress infighting was its biggest problem in MP. Perhaps now the party in Madhya Pradesh needs something on the lines of the famous ‘Dabra Conclave 1993’. Engineered by late Madhavrao Scindia, it was a historic event that brought all the fighting leaders together. At that time the fighting factions were those led by Arjun Singh, Motilal Vora and Madhavrao himself. Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath at the time were in the Arjun Singh camp. Convened as a “unity meet’’ of all Congress stalwarts of the then undivided MP at one platform, it went on to become a symbol of Congress unity in the state. Congress returned to power four months later. The ‘Dabra Conclave 1993’ blueprint is available with Congress high command. Why it is not being put into practice, is a question only the high command can answer.