After the Congress announced its candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh last week, former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi publicly expressed his “displeasure and pain” at not being consulted by the party.
This was not the first time since the party’s loss in the 2004 State Assembly election that he was being ignored by the party’s State unit and the Central leadership.
During a programme attended by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi last year, Mr. Jogi was not invited to sit alongside the Congress scion. Those invited were junior to him. The wheelchair-bound politician was asked to come on to the dais only when Mr. Gandhi spotted him in the crowd.
Chequered career
Mr. Jogi, who has had a long and chequered career has always been at loggerheads with almost every State unit chief chief since 2004. His detractors within the party were, however, always scared of him for his ability to get the Congress high command to go his way.
During the 2013 Assembly election, he managed to get party tickets for his wife Renu and son Amit despite many leaders accusing him of being involved in the Jiram Ghati Maoist attack on the Congress convoy that almost wiped out the entire State Congress leadership. His wife ultimately won the election from Kota and his son got elected from the Marwahi (ST) constituency.
However, the situation began to change with the appointment of Patan MLA Bhupesh Baghel as the State Congress chief and T.S. Singh Deo as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. Both leaders were openly critical of the Jogi family and its “arrogance andhighhandedness.”
The State Congress was soon divided into the pro- Jogi and anti-Jogi camps.
Known to be a leader with mass backing across the State, the defeat from Mahasamund Lok Sabha seat at the hands of novice politician Chandu Lal Sahu in 2014 Lok Sabha election came a big setback to Mr. Jogi.
If leaders from the anti-Jogi camp in the Chhattisgarh Congress are to be believed, Rahul Gandhi does not like the Jogis. After his defeat in Lok Sabha elections, many of his detractors led by Mr. Baghel began attacking him publicly and a perception gained ground that Mr. Baghel had the Congress vice-president’s backing.
The Jogis have always been accused of “complicity with the Chief Minister Raman Singh and of working against the party’s interest”, a charge denied by the Jogis. However, the last minute withdrawal of Congress candidate Manturam Pawar from Antagad Assembly bypoll in 2014 and the surfacing of purported conversations between the father and son to fix the by-election put the Jogis in the direct line of fire.
Mr. Baghel, an outspoken and a fierce leader, expelled Amit from the party in January and asked the AICC to serve notice to Jogi senior.
After his expulsion, Amit emphasised the need for a local front which would give importance to Chhattisgarhi culture and dialect.
According to leaders close to Mr. Jogi, he wanted the party to expel him so that he could get people’s sympathy, however, the Congress high command played it safe and only served him a notice.
The threats by Mr. Jogi to quit the Congress and form a new outfit could be seen as a pressure tactic to revive his son’s political career.
Jogi claims to have the support of 15 Congress MLAs, however, only one MLA has openly declared his support. Many of his close associates are uncertain because of his “decreasing popularity” and are weighing their options.
In a State where the ruling party and the Opposition party have only 0.7 per cent difference in their vote share, a regional outfit with a heavyweight tribal leader like Ajit Jogi could be a headache to both the BJP and the Congress.
