Madhya Pradesh Political Punch: Minister On A Limb; Congress's Problem; Weird Decisions & More

Minister on a limb

There seems to be no end in sight to the problems of a minister contesting an assembly election. A video, in which the minister was having a tiff with voters, went viral. Describing the video as an old one, the minister got an FIR registered against a few Congress leaders for making it viral. He may have had an FIR registered against the Congress leaders, but he came across the same incident, as mentioned in the video, the very next day the FIR was registered. When the minister was canvassing in a village, he had to face the voters’ anger there. A video of this incident also went public. In the video, the minister is seen facing the villager’s anger, sitting quietly.  Because of the FIR, the minister’s rivals have decided to oppose him wherever he goes for campaigning. The minister is worried about the voters’ anger. A few BJP leaders, who are backing the minister, are sparing no effort to mollify the public.

Congress’s problem

Dealing with some senior leaders of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh is a daunting task, because those who are supposed to handle them are just Lilliputians. The present in-charge of the state Congress has no clue about how to handle these leaders. Just as the in-charge pacifies one leader another gets angry. Immediately after the team of the state Congress committee was declared, resentment against the in-charge grew. A leader, who comes from the same caste as the in-charge does, also got angry with the latter. Someone very close to the leader has not been made an office-bearer of the committee. The leader got so angry that he opened a front against the in-charge and took the issue to Delhi Durbar. Another Congress leader is angry with the in-charge, and has contested his style of working. Seeing the conflict among the party’s senior leaders, the in-charge wanted to get rid of the responsibility. There are reports that he has decided to go to another state.

Weird decisions

The Congress continues to take strange decisions even after staying out of power for a long time. Two by-elections are being held in the state together with the assembly elections in two other states. Both constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, where the by-elections are taking place, have enough number of tribal people. But the Leader of Opposition (LoP), who belongs to a tribal community, has been sent to Vidarbha in Maharashtra for electioneering. He, too, is canvassing there. The LoP is keeping away from the by-elections. For the by-elections, media management is required, but the chairman of the party’s media committee is on duty in Maharashtra. Besides a few other leaders who could have been useful have been sent to campaign for the party candidates there.  The leaders, working in Maharashtra, are also happy, for if something goes wrong in the by-polls, they will not be held responsible. The formation of the Congress’s executive committee, in the meanwhile, has caused resentment to many leaders. They are amused by such decisions.

Wishing to return

A few leaders who left the BJP now wish to return to the party.  A former minister is ready to do that at any cost. This ex-minister has already contacted many senior leaders of the BJP, requesting them to give him a chance. A senior leader has recommended his case to the Chief Minister as well as to the party’s state unit president. Both have thrown in the towel, nevertheless, saying only the central leadership can resolve the issue. The BJP members say a senior leader has come in the way of the former minister’s rejoining the party, which he may not be able to do unless he woos this leader. A son of an important leader of the party is also facing the same problem. He, too, fought the assembly election as an independent candidate but is keen to rejoin the party. Many leaders of the organisation suggested that the top bosses take him back, but they are not ready for it. The leadership has thrown a spanner in his plans to return because of the membership drive and due to joining of the members of other political outfits in the BJP.

Blood is thicker than water

A brother of a minister sometimes gets active in a department or a son of a minister often rules the roost in another. But there is a minister whose daughter’s father-in-law has more say in his department than his brother or son has. There are reports that the man calls up the officials of the department headed by the minister and directs them to get work done. The minister’s relative, who was very active before Diwali, told the officials posted in districts to send him some gifts. A few officers followed his instructions, which many gave a wide berth to, nevertheless. Ergo, the relative concerned is making a list of those officers who did not give him anything as a Diwali gift. He wants to remove those who did not honour his words. But the minister is not aware of his kin’s activities many times.

Upcoming leader

Leadership is the quality that is ingrained in a human. It can neither be passed on to anyone. Nor can it be taught in a school. When the time comes this quality manifests itself, and it was seen in the maiden speech of a minister’s son at a public meeting in Sagar. The venue, where the meeting was held, was full to its capacity. Immediately after he started speaking, there was a pin drop silence, and the audience seemed to be under a magic spell. When he said he should not be known as the son of a powerful politician but for his work and dedication to the party, he was cheered on by thunderous applause from the crowd and screams of “You can do it!” A maiden public speech as it was, the youngster never fumbled. His deep penetrating voice and the choice of words delighted everyone so much that they said, “A leader is coming up, and he may even outshine his father.”