Madhya Pradesh: Scindia-Singh Congress factions fail to unite

Bhopal: Regardless of whether they won or lost the recent assembly elections all Congress candidates have been tasked to go back to their constituencies and thank the booth-level party workers by offering them flowers. The “Gandhigiri” assignment is meant to pep up the party’s grass-root workers in preparation for the Lok Sabha elections, likely to be announced before March. In Madhya Pradesh the party has been mourning in silence the pasting BJP gave it. The Aam Aadmi Party’s runaway success has forced the party to “think out of the box” and the novel idea is said to have emanated from the party headquarters in Delhi. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is expected to embark upon a state-wide tour to thank the voters. The Congress can hope to rekindle the voters’ interest through a similar thanksgiving-cum-public relations exercise. With this the party hopes to revive its prospects in all the 230 assembly segments of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies.[caption id=“attachment_1327605” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. PTI[/caption] The party also had to be firm with the rebels who contested against the official candidates. There were 30 candidates who stayed in the fray against the party’s directive. One went on to win as an Independent. MPCC chief Kantilal Bhuria has to sign the expulsion orders for 28 party members who include his own niece Kalawati. There have been more than 300 complaints. The decision on the rest would be taken two weeks later. In Bhopal the party, however, faced another bout of rebellion on Sunday when the newly-elected legislators gathered to elect the leader of the legislature party. The bitterness of the rivalry among the two camps led by the Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh was amplified in the slogans shouted at the PCC headquarters. The central observers Oscar Fernandes and CP Joshi left the town without reaching a decision. The whole sequence of events explained why the party fared so poorly in the assembly elections. As is the party, the decision has been left to the party president Sonia Gandhi. Mahendra Singh Kalukheda of the Scindia camp and Ajay Singh of the Digvijaya camp were in the fray with 56 of the 58 legislators present. Both had tested their strength at their residences. Ajay Singh who led the party in the outgoing House obviously was the legislators’ first choice. The Scindia camp realised this and wanted the decision postponed till the high command intervened. The observers then held a one-to-one meeting with the legislators. Singh claimed the support of 37 while Kalukheda had 19. While the resolution to seek the high command’s intervention was passed fairly clearly the decision to seek individual legislators’ opinion caused a flare up. Scindia supporters were seen shouting slogans in front of Ajay Singh’s car. The observers also consulted Bhuria and the general secretary in charge of the state Mohan Prakash. The Delhi leadership apparently wanted Ajay Singh to step aside for Kalukheda. One of the reasons offered for the delay was that the party wanted the organisational change also to be finalised before the CLP leader was announced. No explanation was forthcoming on why this exercise was being conducted if the high command had already made up its mind not to have Ajay Singh as leader. A third faction of younger MLAs led by Sanjay Pathak of Vijayraghogarh was in another huddle but refused to divulge its strategy. The central leadership will announce the new CLP leader on Tuesday, just a day before the new House assembles. Not an unfamiliar scene for those who have watched the Congress over past three decades; but the party is staring at disaster this time around. Bhuria had already put in his papers owning up the responsibility for the debacle. But the high command sat over them. It is worried that a change will leave the new PCC chief with only three months to strategise for the Lok Sabha elections. The onus of a near impossible victory would rest on his shoulders. The Scindia faction has little to show by way of performance but it would want Bhuria to be the fall guy. Can it galvanise the party for the general elections by antagonising the majority of legislators? There are too many wheels within the wheel.