Flurry of dissent hits BJP; Cong cadres stand firmly behind Kamal Nath

By Praveen Dwivedi
Bhopal, June 18 For the last two decades, the ruling BJP's politics in Madhya Pradesh has been under the sole control of the longest serving Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Now it has been hit by dissent and internal strife at the time of the assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year.

Madhya Pradesh-based political observers say that the BJP has never looked so unorganised and insipid through its long period in power since 2003. Nor has Chief Minister Chouhan appeared so vulnerable. Such has been his dominance in the party that no credible alternative to him has emerged.

As the assembly polls draw closer, the voices of discontent seem to be getting louder in the BJP. The factionalism that has been in existence for years has now grown with Jyotiraditya Scindia along with his large number of loyalists not only capturing the place but also having strong dominance in the government and the party.

State BJP president V.D. Sharma, a direct appointee from the RSS headquarters, has been unable to reconcile the differences among the factions with many leaders openly issuing statements against the party and Sharma. Voices are also being raised against Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia especially by those who found their political career in danger after shifting to the BJP.

However, MP BJP office bearers speaking to , maintained that, "different leaders are trying to position themselves so that they could get a pie in the electoral process (ticket to contest). Some of them give contentious statements in a bid to get attention and in an attempt to attain their goal. In a nutshell, this is political positioning. The party is keeping an eye on all such statements and developments and will deal with them in a political manner."

In the recent past, several BJP leaders, including former MLAs Satyanarayan Sattan, Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat and Harendarjeet Singh Babbu too have vented their ire against the state of affairs in the BJP.

Another former MLA and ex-minister Deepak Joshi (former CM Late Kailash Joshi's son), while targeting CM Chouhan, quit the party recently to join the Congress and is now vying for a Congress ticket against the CM from Budhni (Sehore).

Last month, ministers from Sagar district Gopal Bhargava and Scindia loyalist Govind Singh Rajput along with two other MLAs Pradeep Lariya and Shailendra Jain, united against another senior cabinet minister Bhupendra Singh (considered close to CM Chouhan) over his undue interference in their assembly segments.

While factionalism persists in the opposition also, it is not to the extent of the ruling party and it is for getting recognition as its two veterans, Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath, have taken command for the assembly elections. With the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' being over, Digvijaya Singh has turned his complete attention to Madhya Pradesh. He has taken charge of 66 seats which the Congress lost in three consecutive assembly elections and he has toured all these constituencies.

Several party workers and senior Congress leaders spoke to , maintaining that Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath have taken a pledge to defeat the BJP. Recently when some senior Congress leaders made headlines over Kamal Nath as the party's chief ministerial face, Digvijaya had said, "99 per cent of people of Madhya Pradesh want to see Kamal Nath as the chief minister. There should be no doubt about it."