Party gets a fresh lease of life after civic poll results of Madhya Pradesh; opposition bags 7 out of 16 mayoral positions.
NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh civic polls have given Congress much-needed oxygen ahead of 2023 Assembly elections. In what pressed the alarm bell for BJP, the Congress has captured five of total 16 Municipal Corporations in the state. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also made inroads in MP by bagging one mayoral seat. One seat has gone to an independent. So, the BJP has faced defeat in seven seats.
Struggling to revive after losing power in MP, the Sonia Gandhi-led party has after all found some solace in civic poll results. The party workers are happy and full of enthusiasm after the Congress with five mayoral positions put up its best performance since Madhya Pradesh introduced direct elections to the post in 1999.
However, the 2023 electoral battle of Madhya Pradesh is still a gigantic challenge for the Congress, given the prevailing situation that the party is faced with. In fact, the BJP high command takes control of political affairs during Assembly elections. What works to the advantage of the Congress is that the central party leadership is not interfering in the state organizational matters. The party is relying on Kamal Nath and other local leaders.
State in-charge general secretary Mukul Wasnik, along with secretary C.P. Mittal, Kuldip Indora, Sudhanshu Tripathi and Sanjay Kapur, kept coordinating with local leaders. This also benefited Congress, as factionalism has been controlled considerably.
Another message of the civic poll results was that the communal polarization cannot work to the advantage of the saffron party everywhere. These polls were held amid incidents of communal violence at various places in the country, perceptibly leading to an atmosphere of polarization. But the results signaled it didn’t work, which is a good augury for Congress and the opposition.
Meanwhile, the groupism in BJP has intensified, though it is not out in the open due to fear of the central leadership. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is making all efforts to ensure unity ahead of 2023 polls. But the civic poll results have given the CM’s rivals a chance to target him. Congress victory in Gwalior, Morena, Rewa, Chhindwara and Jabalpur is a jolt to BJP. The AAP bagged Singrauli seat. Katni seat went to an independent. What is remarkable is that the BJP won most corporators’ seats in all the municipal corporations except Chhindwara. If there were no direct elections for mayoral positions, then BJP would have scored victory in 15 seats. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government, in fact, had overturned the Congress’ decision to elect mayor through corporators and made it a direct election. This decision boomeranged on the BJP. Congress is considering a big achievement its victory in Gwalior, Morena and Jabalpur which have been BJP strongholds. The defeat in Jabalpur is more embarrassing for the BJP as it had fielded Dr Jitendra Jamdar, considered to be an RSS ideologue, for the mayor’s post. Moreover, the BJP has been winning the Lok Sabha election since 1996 in Jabalpur. But now Congress grabbed the mayor’s post after 18 years. Congress’ growing influence is also attributed to Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha’s social connect in Jabalpur, who happens to be from this city.
The BJP is trying to signal that it has registered a huge win in civic polls. But the reality is that the saffron party candidates could win in Ujjain and Burhanpur with great difficulty. Otherwise, the opposition would have touched 9 seats. At the same time, AIMIM’s entry is also alarming for Congress. Asaduddin Owaisi’s party got 10,000 votes and damaged the Congress. It also cut into Congress votes in some other seats.
Kamal Nath has admitted that Congress’ challenge was not only from BJP alone, but also from other parties. AAP’s win in one seat is also causing concerns to Congress as the newbie party’s expansion is taking place at the cost of the Congress’ poll prospects. What remains to be seen is what kind of strategy is prepared by Kamal Nath and Digvijaya, and also by the team of Mukul Wasnik for 2023.