Post the assembly elections, Madhya Pradesh is apparently embarking on the path of transfer of power from the old to the new generation and the emergence of new leadership in the state. In other words, it is the beginning of a new era of politics on both sides – the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
The BJP has been ruling Madhya Pradesh for the past two decades, except for 18 months of the Kamal Nath led Congress government. Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who was in power for more than 16 years during that period, has been replaced with a new face Mohan Yadav.
For the Congress which has been struggling to regain lost ground since 2003 with changes in the state leadership, the loss in the assembly election held recently prompted it to find a new and active face – Jitu Patwari (58) as the state unit president. The grand old party’s plan of handing over the state’s leadership to Kamal Nath saw a fruitful result in the 2018 assembly election; however, factionalism within the party and the greed for power paved the way for the BJP to grab the reins of power again in 2020.
In the past five years, Kamal Nath (77) restructured the party’s ground level cadre, which was almost in a fragile state due to the back to back losses in three consecutive elections (2003, 2008 and 2013) and made the workers fight against the BJP’s double engine force (Centre and State). It managed to turn sentiments against the BJP’s rule in 2018, and was hoping for yet another victory in 2023. However, it lost.
The loss in the 2023 assembly election made the Congress high command hand over the state’s leadership to Jitu Patwari. Whether this decision will help or not, would be decided in the future. However, the upcoming Lok Sabha election would be the first challenge for Jitu Patwari.
Changes in leadership may also pave the way for the end of the one man show and the politics of factionalism in both the national parties – the BJP and the Congress. Former CM Chouhan, who in the past two decades, established himself as the most popular leader in the state BJP, was a one man show. Now, the BJP has appointed two deputy Chief Ministers – Rajendra Shukal and Jagdish Devda.
Being a cadre based party, the factionalism by the BJP’s heavyweights is always being questioned by the central leadership or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — in this instance replacing the longest serving CM Chouhan.
The situation in the Congress has been quite the contrary. The factionalism in its Madhya Pradesh unit has been there for the last several decades, even when it faced a comparatively weak opposition, especially from 1980 to 2003.
The new era will also empower the new leaders to strengthen their position and become mass leaders like Arjun Singh, Shyama Charan and Vidya Charan Shukla, Digvijaya Singh, and the most important, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who earned the name ‘Mama’ (Uncle) and ‘Bhai’ (Brother) through his schemes.
Former CM (late) Arjun Singh, who was fondly called ‘Dau Saheb’, controlled MP’s politics for several decades and his growing popularity was challenging the influence of the Nehru-Gandhi family. He was sent out of the state’s politics and was replaced by the late Motilal Vora.
The loss in the 2023 assembly election and transformation in the state’s leadership is also likely to dent the supremacy of former CM Digvijay Singh in the state’s politics.
