Jogi, The CM vs The man

If Digvijay Singh loses Madhya Pradesh, he should come over here and become the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister,’’ says a Congress sym...

If Digvijay Singh loses Madhya Pradesh, he should come over here and become the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister,’’ says a Congress sympathiser in Raigarh. The comment, made in all seriousness and echoed by many others in different parts of northern Chhattisgarh, reflects a curious paradox of the current election campaign—appreciation of the Congress government’s work in the past three years but a strong antipathy to Ajit Jogi as a person.

As we traverse hundreds of miles through the districts of Mahasamund, Raigarh, Jashpur, Janjgir and Bilaspur, Congress flags, buntings, posters, and wall writings easily outnumber those of the BJP. In fact, barring a few pockets, the NCP’s clock symbol is far more visible than the BJP’s lotus. In a bipolar state like Chhattisgarh, third forces seldom play a major role in the final reckoning. And the fact that both the NCP (openly) and the BJP (covertly) are talking of a hung assembly and a post-poll alliance indicates their own lack of confidence in the face of an aggressive Jogi.

But Jogi is turning out to be both the Congress’s greatest strength and biggest weakness—depending on who is doing the talking. The ‘‘vocal intelligentsia’’ not just in the towns but also in small kasbas and wayside chai shops is palpably hostile towards Jogi. This section includes many traditional Congress supporters and even workers.

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The reason for their ire? Jogi’s brusque, autocratic, and personalised form of politics. The common refrain is that Jogi behaves like a ‘‘super collector’’, not a politician. This is where the nostalgia for Digvijay comes in. The MP Chief Minister (who was also their CM till three years ago) may have done little for development but he was the typical Congress politico—dispensing smiles and favours to local party workers and journalists, working through old patronage networks in village and town, allowing ministers and district Congress chiefs leeway in their respective fiefdoms.

Jogi has destroyed all that. ‘‘He wants to control everything himself, he has given full powers to favoured bureaucrats, and he does not know how to keep people happy,’’ complains a Congress worker who does not want to be named. No, he would never leave the Congress, he adds but wishes the party high command would realise the degree of Jogi’s unpopularity and change him.

There is little chance of that because Jogi, to a large extent, has delivered. The 16 districts which formed Chhattisgarh were among the most backward areas of Madhya Pradesh. In many areas, the roads are still as bad as they were but Jogi has made it his mission to make Chhattisgarh a developed state—and the beginnings of that promise are visible.

Village after village in Jashpur district, for instance, is dotted with freshly dug ponds (known as dabri), water taps, newly paved tracks and little bridges over the numerous streams and rivers which crisscross the terrain.

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Rural development apart, Jogi has travelled to every part of the state in the past three years to become its most widely recognised leader. He has also managed to impress industrialists and influential outsiders, and succeeded in making Chhattisgarh the most talked about of the three new states—albeit sometimes for the wrong reasons.

With all these real achievements to his credit, there was little need for Jogi to alienate people. As the election campaign enters its final leg, it’s becoming a Jogi versus Jogi battle since both victory and defeat rest on his contradictory personality.

	Not all corruption: PM, Sonia talk development in Chhattisgarh

			JAGDALPUR: Addressing a large and enthusiastic rally in this tribal-dominated area of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday afternoon, PM A.B. Vajpayee linked development with the other issue dominating the state this election, corruption. Chhattisgarh, he said, could easily be transformed into a developed state as long as it had an imandaar (honest) leadership. However, barring that remark, he made no mention of Ajit Jogi and focused on the achievements of the NDA Government at the Centre. Towards the end, he strongly criticised Naxalites—who are active in these areas of Bastar and have given a poll boycott call—for advocating the politics of violence. The PM’s remark came a few hours after yet another Naxal attack on a CRPF post in the district this morning, in which 13 jawans were wounded. Story continues below this ad But what made everyone sit up and take note was an enigmatic remark the BJP leader made after ending his speech. He came back to the mike to reiterate the BJP’s support to the cause of women—the fairer sex far outnumbered the men at the rally—raising speculation that his niece and BJP vice-president Karuna Shukla could be a CM contender in case the party came to power. RAIPUR: Setting off on the second leg of her campaign in Chhattisgarh here on Wednesday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi again raked up the Dilip Singh Judeo issue and accused the BJP of ‘‘shamelessly’’ protecting corrupt leaders. However, this time she also talked about development and patted CM Ajit Jogi for ‘‘giving a new direction’’ to the state since its bifurcation from MP. She also reiterated that the BJP was a communal party and said: ‘‘For the Congress, it’s an ideological fight with the BJP.’’