NEW DELHI: These leaders were distanced from the close circles of power in the Congress after the electoral failures that the party faced in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in 2023 assembly elections.
The three ex-chief ministers of Congress—Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh—may lose their political sheen after the ongoing Lok Sabha elections due to their age as well as their lack of relevance in their respective states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Congress leaders say that the three leaders were distanced from the close circles of power in the Congress organisation after the electoral failures that the party faced in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in 2023 assembly elections of which the responsibility was on the shoulders of this trio. A Congress leader said, “Despite Congress having an edge, the grand old party lost because of their ivory tower approach during elections.”
Moreover these leaders, according to political analysts, have lost the spirit to battle it out and take the command of situations. As they have seen prime in their life and therefore do not feel the need to exert themselves substantially. A political analyst said, “The politics that gets you votes is being active, working on ground, addressing issues, administering problems, and moreover passion. And these are the things that gives one importance in the organisation as well. But with age these things fade away.”
In Rajasthan, seeing his space shrinking, Gehlot had taken different measures to keep himself relevant. Though he is not contesting the current Lok Sabha elections, two sources alleged that Gehlot had tried to strike a deal with BJP before the Lok Sabha where the ex CM (Gehlot) had proposed to help the saffron camp by fielding weak candidates from Congress in Rajasthan on seats, which were seen as a challenge for the BJP. In return of which, the saffron camp had to field a weak candidate in Jalore Lok Sabha constituency where Gehlot’s son Ashok Gehlot is a contestant from Congress. A source in Rajasthan said, “Gehlot had wanted to field 6 to 7 such candidates from Congress in Rajasthan, who had no chance of winning. But that couldn’t happen because there were other top leaders in Congress deciding over the ticket distribution.” Sources close to Gehlot deny all such allegations and call them malicious and intended to hurt their leader’s stature.
Another leader who is not contesting Lok Sabha elections and could face, according to leaders, existential crisis after the polls is Kamal Nath. After the assembly elections debacle, Nath had tried to negotiate a deal with the BJP to keep himself relevant in the political ecosystem of the state. However, the saffron camp could not find any benefit by bringing him to their fold. After which the state cadre had further disliked his presence in the party. A Congress leader said, “There is a rare chance that Kamal Nath will have any substantial place in Congress cadre in state as well as AICC. Because there is an iron law of Rahul Gandhi politics and that is if he likes someone he will give him good positions and if he doesn’t then it doesn’t matter who the person is he will not give him importance.”
Another ex CM Digvijay Singh is also seen to have reduced or no role in the state cadre led by Jitu Patwari. Moreover, out of the three, only Digvijay is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
A political observer said, “Since the top leadership wanted to make every big leader to contest the election and prove their worth of being a top leader, Digvijay Singh agreed to contest the elections. But there have been internal party surveys that suggest he may find it difficult to win the elections. But it is also true that he works hard and has been visiting his constituency. Therefore, if he wins the elections he will remain a strong voice. Else he will will fade away like the other two leaders.”
To fill the vacuum of old leaders, Congress is looking at Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan and Jitu Patwari in Madhya Pradesh.