The political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, fuelled by Jyotiraditya Scindia’s sudden resignation on Tuesday has resurrected what is an old debate within the Congress: is it paying dearly for its preference of veteran leaders over young blood?
Political analysts feel that such a crisis, not entirely unexpected, could have been averted only if the Congress had chosen to address the fast spreading discontent among its MLAs.
“Delhi politics and state politics are different. For the last 40 years Kamal Nath was in Delhi. Now, back in the state he couldn’t change his style. In state politics, you have to deal at a grassroots (village or panchayat) level and he behaved like a central minister,” said Girija Shankar, Bhopal-based political commentator and author of books on elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Bhopal-based senior journalist Lajjashankar Hardenia termed the Madhya Pradesh rebellion a result of Scindia’s humiliation in the party.
“The Congress government formed in Madhya Pradesh had major contributions from three people, Digvijay Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath. Digvijay and Kamal Nath shared the spoils between them and Scindia got almost nothing,” said Hardenia.
Shankar agreed. He said it was Scindia who was the face of MP Congress all through the elections.
“All elections surveys pitched Scindia against Shivraj Singh Chouhan. There was no talk of Kamal Nath. There was a massive difference between the popularity of Scindia and Nath. The big mistake was that when it came to choosing a chief minister, Nath was picked and Scindia was shunned,” he said.
Hardenia said the then Congress leader Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia was humiliated in similar fashion in 1967. That year Jyotiraditya’s grandmother Rajmata toppled the Congress government after D.P. Mishra was made the state’s chief minister. She later quit the Congress with 36 MLAs who pledged allegiance to her.
“Only last week I met Digvijay Singh at a wedding. I told him that there might be a repeat of 1967,” said Hardenia. “He said they wouldn’t allow it to happen.”
According to Hardenia, frustration was writ large across various levels within the party. Many were left with a feeling of being cast aside after the poll victory.
Both in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress high command relied more on the old guard as compared to the young leaders to lead the party. After the Rajasthan elections, Rahul Gandhi rushed to Jaipur to broker a truce deal between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot, who later took over as chief minister.
On Tuesday, Gehlot took to Twitter and accused Scindia of betraying the “trust of the people and the ideology”. He also called him a leader with “self-indulgent political ambitions”.
Shankar, however, explained that it would be unfair to compare MP with Rajasthan politics. There, he said, Sachin Pilot wasn’t the driving force in the state.
The question, however, is whether Scindia will join the BJP or not. All indications are _ he met both the Prime Minister and the Union home minister _ he will. But it remains to be seen how successful he will be as a member of the Sangh Parivar. His grandmother, after leaving the Congress, won the Lok Sabha elections four times with the BJP.
Considered a hardliner, Rajmata was at the front of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement and was one of the accused in the Babri masjid demolition case.
“Whoever enters BJP, a non-RSS man, he is not treated well,” said Hardenia suggesting it would be difficult for grandson Scindia to see such a success. “Yashwant Sinha is an example. After a few days, he would be discarded like a fly is thrown out of a glass of milk.”