Jogi buys time, to convene assembly only in February

Interestingly, Chattisgarh’s new Governor, D.N. Sahay, a Samata Party nominee, has not created any problems for Jogi. Sahay did not insist on Jogi seeking a confidence vote, which he could have done, after being sworn in. While the Congress has a majority in the assembly, seven MLAs owing allegiance to V.C. Shukla had not attended the CLP meeting where Jogi was “unanimously” elected leader.

Though the Congress MLAs did not want Jogi, three factors went in his favour: one, Sonia Gandhi plumped for him and everyone else, particularly Digvijay Singh who commands the support of a majority of the MLAs, fell in line. Sonia wanted to assert her authority at a time when she was being challenged in the Congress party’s presidential poll. Motilal Vora’s election would have been seen as a feather in the cap of Madhav Rao Scindia, Shyama Charan Shukla’s elevation would have been attributed to the “coterie”, and V.C. Shukla’s selection as succumbing to the dissidents.

Secondly, the Shukla brothers fell out, leaving V.C. with only 7 MLAs instead of 12. Had the supporters of the Shukla brothers held together, the number could reached the magical 16. S.C. Shukla’s son Amitesh, who is likely to be inducted into the Jogi Cabinet, expressed his loyalty to the party High Command early on. He would have had to resign his seat within six months had his father, who is a Lok Sabha MP, become CM.

The third factor in Jogi’s favour was the widespread anti-Shukla feeling in the local BJP unit. Though Jogi had spoken to L.K. Advani before going to Raipur, the BJP leadership, which has been in close touch with V.C. Shukla, does not want to dirty its hands so early and earn the odium of bringing down another Congress Government. The BJP would prefer waiting for the Jogi government to collapse under the weight of its contradictions. There is a growing perception that the state is headed towards President’s Rule. That a retired bureaucrat was sent as Governor has reinforced this feeling.

Jogi, who met Sonia Gandhi today, said he would expand his ministry after November 7. This week, he said, wasn’t auspicious because “36 crore gods and godesses in the Hindu mythology are angry at this time”.

Jogi’s headaches stem from the Congress itself. The Brahmins in the state are angry at Shukla being ignored, which is why the Chief Minister has talked about the possibility of creating an upper house to accommodate “non-tribals”.

Also, the anti-Christian feeling is more pronounced in Chhatisgarh than in other places. Conversions have taken place in large numbers in Raigad and Sarguja. Though Jogi is a protestant Christian, there’s a dirty whisper campaign going around that the Pope called Sonia Gandhi and instructed her to install Jogi in Raipur! That Raipur has a Christian commissioner and a collector who is a Christian, both recently appointed, does not help matters.

How they swung Sahay’s appointment

NEW DELHI: Both the Digvijays Singhs joined hands to swing the appointment of D.N. Sahay as the Governor of Chattisgarh. Digvijay Singh, Madhya Pradesh’s Chief Minister, is related to Digvijay Singh, Samata Party leader and MOS in the Ministry of Railways. The Congress CM is the nephew of the MOS.

The appointment of D.N. Tewari, who is in the Planning Commission, and who was a nominee of RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan, was almost through. Home Minister L.K. Advani had sounded out Digvijay Singh in Bhopal and got his go-ahead. At this stage, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee was reminded of an earlier promise he had made to the Samata Party of a gubernatorial posting. Samata’s Digvijay swung into action, spoke to his nephew, and the rest is history.