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Journalism of Courage
RAIPUR, NOV 1: Chattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi’s tightrope walk is only going to get more difficult, with Digvijay Singh, who played a key role in his installation, indicating that his job was over and that it was now up to the newly-sworn-in CM to stabilise his government in Raipur.
Governor D.N. Sahay has given Jogi 13 days to prove his majority in the Assembly and the new CM’s foremost task over the next few days will not only be to placate spurned rival V.C. Shukla and try and “neutralise” the seven MLAs who are with him but also ensure that his own flock of 41 MLAs is not poached.
Digvijay’s decision to retreat is significant as he had only reluctantly backed Jogi’s candidature on the instructions of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Leaving Jogi to fend for himself in the highly volatile political situation in Raipur is probably a calculated move on his part since a majority of the MLAs are his supporters and the new CM is dependent on him to a large extent for his survival.
Jogi and Digvijay have had a running, at times strident, rivalry in Madhya Pradesh politics, and although the two leaders put on a public appearance of camaraderie and bonhomie yesterday, the undercurrents of hostility couldn’t be missed.
Last night’s swearing-in ceremony was a pointer, in several ways, to the hard days ahead for Jogi. For one, Shukla, along with the seven MLAs supporting him, stayed away from the night-long proceedings although his brother Shyama Charan was there. Then there were the long-drawn faces of several party MLAs, especially those who till yesterday afternoon were Jogi’s rivals and hot contenders for the top job in Raipur. It will require all of Jogi’s political skills to keep them happy.
A senior leader described the situation as “highly fragile”, especially after V.C. Shukla’s virtual revolt against Jogi’s candidature and the BJP playing the role of a trigger-happy opposition. In fact, going by the dignitaries attending the ceremony, NDA leaders strangely outnumbered those from the Congress, despite the fact that this will be the only state among the three which have been carved out where the party will rule.
NDA leaders gracing the occasion included Home Minister L.K. Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Law Minister Arun Jaitley, State Railway Minister Digvijay Singh and almost the entire BJP state unit top brass. The political signals sent by the NDA across Chhattisgarh were pretty apparent.
In sharp contrast, none of the senior leaders of the Congress witnessed the birth of the new state and those absent, apart from Sonia herself, included MP stalwarts such as Arjun Singh, Motilal Vora, Madhavrao Scindia and Kamal Nath. AICC observers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Prabha Rau were the only central leaders of the party who were present at Raipur for the historic occasion.
But it is V.C. Shukla who is posing the biggest danger to Jogi. Congress circles apprehend that the sulking leader will attempt to engineer a split in the party and float a regional outfit of his own. His Chhattisgarh Rajya Sangarsh Morcha is, sources say, a virtual parallel political outfit, though without a political nomenclature. He needs the support of 16 MLAs to part ways with the Congress.
