One Step Forward, Four Steps Back: Congress Dance of Death Continues in MP

Bhopal

Congress leadership in Madhya Pradesh is left red-faced by the recent pronouncements of party leader Babu Jandel, as a video of the Sheopur legislator using abusive language while referring to Lord Shiva is currently grabbing eyeballs on the internet.

Though Jandel has disowned the statements and described the viral video as “doctored,” his clarifications have few takers in Madhya Pradesh—an impregnable fortress of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP was quick to condemn the verbal philandering, with state party unit chief VD Sharma tearing into the Congress and targeting top party leaders for nurturing the likes of Jandel. The Congress had little choice besides scurrying for cover, as there was no way the party could have validated the statements.

Coming just a little over a fortnight ahead of two key Assembly by-elections in the state, the unnecessary controversy adds to the woes of state Congress unit chief Jitu Patwari, who has been trying to resurrect the party in the state since his appointment in the wake of the 2023 Assembly elections.

Since his accession at the helm of the party in the state—purportedly at the behest of Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi—Patwari has tried to project himself as the angry young man of Madhya Pradesh politics. He has fought and taunted the BJP and tested the newly appointed chief minister, Mohan Yadav, over several key issues that have found resonance with voters in the state.

Patwari led the Congress agitations over soybean MSP for farmers and also cornered the ruling party over rising crimes against women and young girls in the last few months. He also joined and lent support to an agitation of guest teachers in the state when they arrived in droves to occupy the state capital.

He managed to overcome differences between various party factions and attempted to broker peace between the various camps that constitute the Congress in the state. He ensured that his personal team—in the absence of a state executive body—included camp followers from each of the senior party leaders in the state.

Sensing reprieve, the party too started to show signs of a resurrection, coaxing Patwari to issue victory claims in the upcoming Vijaypur by-polls, where the BJP will field forest minister Ramnivas Rawat, who defected to the saffron fold after winning the constituency on a Congress ticket in 2023. Patwari had vowed to avenge the humiliation in the election, which is scheduled for November 13.

The Vijaypur Assembly constituency is part of the Sheopur district that Jandel represents. The timing of his statements—which virtually hands over the contest to the BJP—warrants closer scrutiny, as it may well be a signal of a fresh round of faction feuds in the state Congress, where many are not happy with Patwari’s meteoric rise.