The festering resentment of being spurned for the post of Chief Minister and the State Congress chief, coupled with the Lok Sabha election upset, nudged Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia , the second-most popular leader after in Madhya Pradesh during Assembly election campaigning in 2018, to abandon the party.
As election to three Rajya Sabha seats from the State close in, Mr. Scindia, anticipating another short shrift from the party, called the shots, with 19 MLAs loyal to him submitting resignations , plunging the Kamal Nath government into an imminent crisis and leaving behind a political vacuum for the Congress in the Chambal-Gwalior region, his stronghold.
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Although former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan strode ahead in popularity by 10-12%, Mr. Scindia was behind him, explained Yatindra Singh Sisodia, Director, Madhya Pradesh Institute of Social Science Research. “Therefore, he should’ve been the natural choice for the Congress. The situation, our of control of the Congress, could have been addressed timely,” he said. "While Digivijaya Singh was had a popularity of just 1-1.5 %, Kamal Nath was at least better," said Mr. Sisodia, who conducted a survey as part of the Lokiniti network.
If the remaining Congress MLAs resign enmasse, midterm election will become imminent, a possibility, believes Sanjay Kumar, Director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, that may not go down well with most MLAs. “Going to midterm may cause more defections to the BJP. The tally of Congress may go down by half. Therefore, a large number may not be willing to resign, and be content with sitting in the opposition and work in their constituency, than face the election this soon,” he said.
“Most certainly the government is going out,” he said, although he described Mr. Scindia of leaving a big organisation like the Congress “immature”. Mr. Kumar said, “There are difference of opinions within any organisation. One should not be taking whimsical decision. He seems more interested not in the Rajya sabha seat but destabilising the kamal Nath government.”
After the Lok Sabha defeat , explained Mr. Kumar, Scindia sat idle with no official responsibility. “Though the party recognized him as a senior leader, he was not being considered so,”he said. Still he could have waited, as no urgent events like Assembly elections were forthcoming.
Mr. Kumar further cautioned the episode might encourage Congress leaders in an uncomfortable spot in other states to speak out. “If the high command doesn’t act in a fair manner, we might see something of this kind in other states as well,” he added.
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Meanwhile, Bhagwandas Israni, former principal secretary of the State Assembly said the BJP was likely to form the government given its numbers, and support from the Central government. “The Karanataka formula is being played out here. Make MLAs resign, and coopt them in the party fold.”
However, Mr. Kumar, begging to differ, said comparing Karnataka with the situation in Madhya Pradesh wasn't appropriate as while in Karnataka there was a tussle within the alliance, whereas here it was within one party.
