 in Madhya Pradesh, the party leaders are seen to have rejoiced over the decision claiming that the appointment of young leader will give party leaders an opportunity to experiment fresh possibilities which will help them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.){kind=link}
New Delhi: As the Congress party replaced the ex chief minister and state president Kamal Nath with Jitendra Patwari (Jitu Patwari) in Madhya Pradesh, the party leaders are seen to have rejoiced over the decision claiming that the appointment of young leader will give party leaders an opportunity to experiment fresh possibilities which will help them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier after the loss in assembly elections, it is said that Rahul Gandhi had derisively talked to Nath for there had been a widespread impression among the top brass that the state leadership had misled them about the developments in the state (the Gandhi scion was told that Congress will sweep MP elections). However, party insiders suggest that displeased Nath had irately responded claiming he had offered everything he could for Congress to perform well.
Even during the campaigning, insiders had claimed that Kharge was not happy with the functioning of Nath as he was seen to have been taking decisions without considering the inputs from the high command. Sources reveal that Nath had also refused to fund the social media campaign proposed by Sunil Konugolu (Congress strategist). And the MP in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala had to manage funds from the AICC for Konugolu.
A Congress insider said, “Nath was not connected with the rank and file of the party. It was widely reflected from his disposition that he was already sure that he will win the elections. This restricted him to work the way political leaders do. A leader constantly takes feedbacks and tries to fix leaks and shortcomings that develop during the campaigning. He had limited himself to his coterie which was of 10 members.”
He added, “The sad part moreover is that all those ten people failed to win their respective seats. If those people who have been given responsibility of advising and updating the principal leader do not fare well in elections, how is it possible that others will? If they were misinformed how will the right information percolate in the hierarchy? Had we had a different leader before elections maybe we could have performed well. Nonetheless, it seems like everyone is happy with the late decision.”
Angry with results some leaders also made allegations against Nath that he was already contained by the BJP as there was no pressure on him of ED raids as there was on other people in the party who had been involved in financial irregularities.
Talking about the new leadership, the new president is seen to be close to ex Congress CM of MP Digvijay Singh which has given Singh leverage in the state cadre over Nath. Moreover, the new Leader of Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar had earlier given statement against Digvijay Singh. But later he had apologized to Singh after which he become the LoP.
A political analyst in the state said, “Kamal Nath had funded the recent assembly elections and now after his removal it will impact the financial front of the party in the state. This, I believe, is an impulsive decision of the party leadership which may impact the performance of the party in MP.”