NEW DELHI: Jitu Patwari seeks more time to reform his approach amid speculation of changes in party leadership in MP, as his style of functioning has not benefitted Congress in any way.
Amid speculations of change of guard in more than half a dozen states, Congress state unit president of Madhya Pradesh (MP) Jitu Patwari, recently met the organisation general secretary K.C. Venugopal. According to sources, he may have sought more time as the state unit chief to make amends in his style of functioning, which has till now reaped meagre to no benefits for the party.
Several leaders in the party suggest that Patwari had met other top leaders as well, including Rahul Gandhi. However the close door meeting, according to a top source privy to the developments, was held only between the two leaders (Patwari and Venugopal). The source added, “Patwari may have been told to bring the cohesion in the party and take along all the leaders while making decisions.”
A section of office bearers in Madhya Pradesh think that the change is inevitable as the current leadership hasn’t been able to form a growth trajectory of the party in the state that can signal the high command, that Patwari needs more time to bring the party back on track. Rather, a senior leader said, the party is on a constant decline.
A state unit spokesperson of MP said, “Evidently, it seems like there is pressure from the high command on Jitu Patwari, due to which he is running from pillar to post to improve the situation of the party unit. But there is no result on the ground. Undeniably, he is working hard but he is not a smart worker. He is not able to manage people. He is not able to make people join the party. He is not able to inculcate confidence among the rank and file.”
The Sunday Guardian tried to communicate with Jitu Patwari to know more about his conversation with Venugopal, however there was no response from him.
Another hurdle, according to a senior leader, is that the central leadership finds it difficult to identify a leader in the state who can show his capabilities on all the political and organisational fronts and therefore, ascend him to a position where he can take the charge of the state. Notably, in the recent decades, the central leadership had handed all the power and responsibilities of the state unit to the two former chief ministers, Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh, which shunted the growth of other capable leaders as the duo did not help groom them, which led to their hegemonic rule in the state unit of the party.
The party unit, since a long time, has been struggling to establish itself on the guidelines of the high command. Under Kamal Nath’s leadership, the party faced a similar problem of disassociation from important leaders within the organisation as they believed that the leadership is not following the core ideology of Congress. A senior leader said, “Kamal Nath followed soft Hindutva, did he succeed with that? No, he didn’t. He lost the election. That area belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The same impression is being given by Jitu Patwari and therefore he is bound to fail. The Congress leaders do not feel at peace with the current leadership. That is the core of the problem.”
Experts suggest that quick removal of Patwari would send a message that Congress leadership is unable to find a capable leader and therefore, making stopgap arrangements, which will result in the loss of trust for leadership. A political analyst said, “Since his performance is not up to the mark, he should have been removed. But who is the other leader who can take up the responsibility? Arun Yadav may be someone who they can consider for the role. But there is no urgency as of now as there are no upcoming elections.
But if the leaders start leaving the party, then Congress will have to change the president.”