By Praveen Dwivedi Bhopal 11th September : While the rumblings of factionalism, conflicts and disagreements among the veteran members of the Congress’ Madhya Pradesh unit over the top post in the party — which was once thought to be in the public domain, has now been diminished following the intervention of the chief of state’s party Kamal Nath and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in view of the state assembly elections scheduled for 2023.in 2023.However, not all seems to be in good in order in the legislature of the main rival of the party – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The ruling state’s BJP where discussions on political aspirations and factionalism were once hidden behind curtain, is now struggling with issues like the issue of groupism with people claiming that things are get more heated as the days of assembly elections draw closer.
The state’s most powerful BJP leaders, who want to be named successors of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have started directly or indirectly showing their power through their supporters.
The new round of power shows appears to have begun following the fact that Chouhan was removed from the party’s decision-making bodies — the parliamentary board and central election committee in recent times -an event that sparked speculation about a changes of the leadership in Madhya Pradesh.In reality the Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s name, as a successor of Chouhan -an BJP veteran has already begun appearing in the political swathes.
The new Scindia-Vijayvargiya chemical
Scindia who was a member of the BJP after having quit Congress in March 2020 and veteran politician from Indore division and BJP’s national secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya were often seen as arch-rivals thus far, not just in politics , but in the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) as well.However the “new bond” between them hints that they have been able to get hands on an entirely new game in the state’s political arena.Three instances in a month show that.
First — Scindia’s visit with Vijayavargiya at Vijayavargiya’s house in Indore.
Second -Scindia’s appearance on stage with Scindia getting down from the dais and bringing Vijayavargiya to the stage at an annual ceremony for awards of MPCA in Indore The third was a the power display by the supporters of Scindia on his trip to BJP headquarters in Bhopal for an assembly last week.
Even as Vijayavargiya is often be heard reiterating that BJP will stand with Shivraj Singh Chouhan and that the party will run in the next elections for the assembly under his (Chouhan) direction However, his personal rivalry with Chouhan isn’t hidden.
Vijayavargiya was one of the senior BJP leaders who had previously voiced their displeasure in opposition to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government , and were largely out of Madhya Pradesh’s political scene for several years.
The new relationship between Vijayavargiya and Scindia has been a surprise, not just to the Shivraj faction, but also to a few more experienced BJP leaders who were hoping to sit in the highest chair in the Madhya Pradesh government.
It is interesting to note that in the last few days the an ex- Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan popularly referred to as “Tai” visited Bhopal and had a private discussion with Chouhan as well as V.D.Sharma.Political observers viewed this meeting as a counter against Scindia-Vijayvargiya’s new chemistry, and such a view also came up since Mahajan and Vijayavargiya are considered to be of “opposite factions” in the politics of Indore division.
V.D.Sharma and Narottam Mishra’s power-show
Madhya Pradesh BJP president V.D.Sharma is regarded as to be a well-known Brahmin faces in the saffron-colored party camp and one of the candidates to be the chief ministerial seat is currently on a seven-day trip in the Rewa division, which comprises districts like Satna, Sidhi and Singrauli.
Sharma’s visit was an element of the strategy of the BJP of consolidate the party’s ranks ahead of assembly elections.
Significantly, in the Vindhya region which comprises Rewa and Shahdol divisions The BJP was able to win 24 of 30 seats in the assembly in 2018 but it lost in the mayoral post (Rewa and Singrauli) recently — a change which prompted the party’s leadership to reconsider the party’s strategy in the region.
Besides, the area is also considered to be dominated by the upper caste (Brahmin and Kshatriya) communities, and also directly connected with the Chhatarpur-Khajuraho.
Sharma is an Lok Sabha MP from Khajuraho.His supporters during his recent visit to Rewa, Sidhi, Satna and Singrauli have chanted similar slogans in the majority of places, such as -“Sara MP Dol Raha Hai, “Sara MP Dol Raha Hai VD-VD Bol Hai,” and “Hamara Neta Kaisa Ho, VD Sharma Jaisa Ho,” etc.
Furthermore, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra is considered to be opposite to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in addition to his position as a senior politician in the party is one of the candidates for chief minister’s job in Madhya Pradesh.
Mishra’s anger at Shivraj were aired in the public domain several times during the time he (Mishra) quit the stage due to a lack of sitting arrangements during functions.
Mishra’s frequent visits to Delhi and meetings with BJP President J.P.Nadda or Home Minister Amit Shah are often the main topics of discussions.
After V.D.Sharma, Mishra also visited Satna district in Vindhya region in the past in which his supporters chanted slogans like “Hamara Neta Kaisa Ho, Narottam Mishra Jaisa Ho.”
“Both Mishra and Sharma have been recognized as important Brahmin leader in the BJP.their visits to Brahmin-dominated regions (Rewa, Sidhi, Santa) and their power displays are likely to create further challenges on the BJP,” said a political observer.
In addition, at a moment where everything is taking place in Madhya Pradesh BJP’s political arena, how can anyone expect former Union Minister Uma Bharti to stay silent? The fiery BJP leader, who is an ex- Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, has been vocal about Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s alcohol policy in the past few months.He even warned the BJP to take the blame in the forthcoming elections for the assembly.
On Friday she changed her position on Shivraj regarding the issue of liquor.At a press conference she in a subtle way questioned the leadership of Shivraj and claimed that there was an the ‘imbalance of the caste issue’ in the BJP government.
“The party needs to be aware of the issue.There is a lot of trouble in Gwalior, Rewa and Sagar divisions, and the party may be facing opposition from people from these regions in the near future,” Bharti said while answering a question on the former BJP chief Preetam Lodhi, who was exiled from the party over his controversial comments about the Brahmin community.
pd/pgh
