Is Congress leader Kamal Nath heading back to Madhya Pradesh? According to Congress sources, they need a grassroots leader to take on the BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The current Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Arun Yadav is believed to be too lightweight; partymen point to the weak challenge mounted to the Vyapam scam as an example. The only two leaders who can replace him are either Jyotiraditya Scindia or Kamal Nath, as Digvijaya Singh has ruled himself out of state politics. Of the other two, Scindia is keen to join Rahul Gandhi’s team as a general secretary, whenever that rejig happens. But Nath, a veteran Congressman and a nine-term MP is politically savvy enough to mount a credible challenge to the BJP in the state. Already, party MLAs have started voicing their preference for him over Arun Yadav. The question is, of course: is Rahul listening?
Kamal Nath is not the only one who could be sent back to revive a state. Captain Amarinder Singh has for long been hankering to be given charge of Punjab and has even threatened to split the party on this issue. Seasoned veterans have realised that the only way to political survival is to carve your own niche at the state level, for even if Rahul Gandhi makes you a general secretary in his team, it’s a pretty empty title, for the Congress has barely any Chief Ministers for the general secretaries to lord over. But even this strategy has a loophole when it comes to Uttar Pradesh — for there are no Congress veterans left in that crucial state.