New Delhi: The outcomes of the meeting elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana are prone to have a bearing on the political futures of many ‘old guards’ within the Congress, together with former MP chief ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, and outgoing Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, who’re all of their 70’s.
The Congress’s campaigns in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been led by celebration veterans Kamal Nath and Gehlot. Each states have been misplaced to the BJP. Whereas Nath is 77, Gehlot is 72.
In Chhattisgarh, one in every of Congress’s key faces was 71-year-old T.S. Singhdeo. A lot to the celebration’s shock, regardless of Bhupesh Baghel’s seeming recognition, it misplaced that state too. Singh Deo misplaced his personal seat by a mere 94 votes.
Evaluate this to the celebration’s definitive victory in Telangana, the place it was led by a younger chief with firebrand oratory expertise. Revanth Reddy, who’s 54 years outdated, helped the celebration win a decisive mandate within the state.
In line with political analyst Yogendra Yadav, it’s time for the Congress to let its outdated guard go. “It’s time to get new, young people. But young can’t only be biologically young. They have to bring in something new. They cannot be scions of some dynasty or some family. They have to get people with a new vision,” he informed ThePrint.
The election outcomes may additionally create uncertainty for different Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, who’ve been accused of nepotism and factionalism.
For instance, Digvijaya Singh, 76, who wielded appreciable affect within the Madhya Pradesh Congress, was seen as enjoying second fiddle this election. He and Kamal Nath have confronted criticism throughout the celebration for making an attempt to advertise their sons, who’re each in politics, typically at the price of the celebration.
Kamal Nath’s son, Nakul Nath, is a sitting MP, whereas Digvijaya’s son, Jaivardhan Singh, was a minister within the earlier Kamal Nath authorities.
“Digvijaya first said he’s taking sanyas, but he still wants his Rajya Sabha. He still wants a Cabinet berth for his son who’s a first time MLA. He was instrumental in getting rid of Scindia and establishing himself as number 2 in Madhya Pradesh. All of this came at the cost of the party,” a senior Congress chief and former AICC basic secretary informed ThePrint.
Notably, most of those leaders have been introduced into the Congress fold by totally different generations of the Gandhis.
Kamal Nath’s affiliation with the Congress started as a consequence of his friendship with Sanjay Gandhi at Doon College. Gehlot and Digvijaya have been the results of Rajiv Gandhi’s efforts to nurture youthful leaders. He appointed Gehlot and Singh as MP and Rajasthan Congress chief, respectively, which paved the way in which for his or her profitable political journey.
C.P. Joshi, 73, the speaker within the outgoing Rajasthan meeting, rose to prominence together with Rahul Gandhi within the Congress. Joshi misplaced his Nathdwara seat, from the place he had been MLA 5 occasions.
Rahul had initially groomed Joshi as Gehlot’s successor within the state and later discovered him a Cupboard minister submit within the Manmohan Singh authorities when he misplaced by one vote within the 2008 meeting election.
“While some may have lost their seats and others may have not, all of these leaders have lost face in a way,” stated a senior celebration chief, who can also be a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
Nonetheless, like Yadav, the chief additionally stated that they need to now voluntarily make approach for the following era of leaders. “The party is having discussions about how to accommodate this older generation and you’ll soon see decisions made to that end.”
The concept of handing over management roles to youthful generations additionally resonated with one other Congress MP, who informed ThePrint that the celebration wanted to implement the Kamaraj Plan. It was a proposal by Congress chief Ok. Kamraj, who in 1963 stated that every one senior Congress leaders ought to resign from their posts to dedicate all their power to the revitalisation of the Congress.
“They need to boldly hand leadership in the state to younger leaders. The seniors must be moved to an advisory role,” the MP added.
However not all have been on the identical web page on this. Political analyst and former Congress chief Sanjay Jha believes that “politics is like wine. It gets better with age”.
Talking to ThePrint he stated that the lesson for the Congress in that is that it isn’t capable of leverage and cross-fertilise its organisation. “The party needs to create a robust plan and create a model that can be replicated as much as possible. Political campaigning cannot be done like it was in the past,” he added.
Additionally Learn: Modi’s recognition stronger now than any level in 1st time period. 10 takeaways from election outcomes
Outdated vs new guard
Congress leaders level to a vicious cycle within the state items whereby the command of those items is handed to a brand new particular person, however the fruits of labour are sometimes loved by the older management.
“What will happen now is that the state chief in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will be changed. But we’ve seen in the past that that does nothing,” stated the CWC member quoted above.
He cited the instance of Sachin Pilot and stated he “slogged for six years as state unit chief of Rajasthan, but when it came to chief ministership, Gehlot, who was national general secretary (Organisation) at the time, got the top post”.
The Congress management was accused in Rajasthan of not ceding house to the following era of leaders, like Pilot. Two years after Gehlot took over as CM, Pilot staged a revolt by strolling out of the federal government with near 18 MLAs however got here again to the celebration fold.
Since then, until a number of months earlier than the polls, Gehlot and Pilot introduced an image of disunity for the Congress. Whereas Gehlot referred to as Pilot “nikamma”, “nakara” and “corona”, Pilot sat on a dharna making calls for towards his personal celebration’s authorities.
Final yr, the celebration was trying to set up Gehlot as celebration president in Delhi whereas making approach for Pilot because the CM. Nonetheless, a rise up by Gehlot loyalists acted as a spoiler.
Since then, Gehlot had a falling out with the Congress excessive command, which implies that he’s unlikely to have a task in Delhi within the close to future.
“Gehlot saab has indicated that he wants to stick around in Rajasthan, but he will have to fight to retain his prominence in the party,” stated a Rajasthan Congress chief, former minister and Gehlot loyalist.
“It is unlikely that the leadership in Delhi will make him the CM face in the next election or hand over the state unit to him.” the chief informed ThePrint.
There are comparable complaints towards the celebration in Madhya Pradesh too.
One in every of Kamal Nath’s fundamental planks whereas going into the polls was that his authorities was made to fall in 15 months. The explanation was an inner battle throughout the Congress between Nath and former deputy chief minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Scindia, who was often called one in every of Rahul Gandhi’s “young Turks”, walked out along with his MLAs at being denied CM-ship. On the time, the Congress excessive command was blamed for not siding with its youthful leaders and never fostering a brand new era of management within the state.
The Chhattisgarh Congress was additionally riddled with factionalism over the chief minister’s submit. There was an understanding that the celebration excessive command had agreed to a two-and-a-half-year rotational components for the CM-ship. As soon as the midway mark was reached, Singhdeo began making a declare for CM-ship, which was refused.
He then wrote to the excessive command saying that Baghel didn’t accord him respect. He, thereafter, resigned as Panchayati Raj minister. To take care of the state of affairs, Singhdeo was made deputy chief minister months earlier than the election.
Nonetheless, along with his loss within the meeting polls and the Congress’ dismal efficiency within the 14 seats within the tribal belt of Surguja, Singhdeo is unlikely to get some other function both within the state or in Delhi.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)