Litmus test for weak Opp, Diggy uneasy at home

With just about a year to go for elections in Madhya Pradesh, the Assembly session beginning tomorrow is a crucial test for the new leadersh...

With just about a year to go for elections in Madhya Pradesh, the Assembly session beginning tomorrow is a crucial test for the new leadership of the Opposition BJP.

The party, forced to deal with criticism that it was unable to provide a credible opposition to Digvijay Singh, had gone in for large-scale changes. So it is critical for the new Leader of the Opposition Babulal Gaur and the new party president Kailash Joshi that the party carries on the attack on the Congress CM. Digvijay, easily one of the most astute political players in the country, has been able to set his own agenda.

From the preparations so far and the thrust of the recent BJP efforts, the party seems to be looking to attack the government on several fronts. The failure of the government to make substantial progress on road maintenance and construction, the distribution of village grazing land to Dalits, the police attack on university students in Chitrakoot which aroused the ire of Nanaji Deshmukh and the reports of starvation deaths from Shivpuri district adjoining Rajasthan are some of the issues at hand.

Meanwhile, the most credible opposition to the CM comes from his own ministers. After the criticism by deputy CM Jamuna Devi of the all-round lack of development, the other deputy CM, Subhash Yadav, has reiterated his call for a tribal CM. Yadav claims he is only echoing a demand that was voiced by the tribals.