Congress high command’s Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan moves suggest the mojo is back

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge (left) with Rahul Gandhi. (File image)

The Congress party’s experiment of appointing a non-Gandhi President seems to be working. The experienced Mallikarjun Kharge is using his political acumen to settle long pending leadership disputes in state units of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The Congress high command which had lost its authority and respect due to successive losses in elections, seems to be getting its mojo back.

Kharge’s interventions in Chhattisgarh (making TS Singh Deo Deputy Chief Minister) and Rajasthan (a balancing act between Pilot and Gehlot) have sent signals that the high command is supreme and can enforce its wish as and when it wants to.

The message from Kharge is clear: Regional satraps can no longer exploit the central leadership’s vulnerability. Last year in September, the Congress President wasn’t able to implement a change of leadership in Rajasthan as MLAs supporting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had revolted. It was a huge embarrassment for the high command.

In Chhattisgarh, the Gandhis were seen struggling to fulfil their purported promise given to TS Singh Deo that the chief ministership would revolve to him. The advantage with Kharge is that he wields authority with senior leaders unlike Rahul or Priyanka and also doesn’t have any conflict of interest. The Gandhis are friends with Sachin Pilot which was also impacting the decision to end the stalemate in Rajasthan.

Hitching Baghel To Singh Deo  

In a surprise move, TS Singh Deo, who has been pushing for rotational chief ministership, though not as vociferously as Sachin Pilot, was made Deputy CM, just five months before the state elections. Through it, the high command sent out a message that it rewards people and performance. TS Singh Deo had played a crucial role in the Surguja region in 2018 to help propel Congress in ending the 15-year-rule of the BJP.

Bhupesh Baghel, another architect of the victory, the current CM and party’s OBC face, was blocking Singh Deo’s elevation for quite some time. It has been Congress high command’s decades-old strategy to play leaders against one another, lest they grow strong enough to challenge the family one day.

The decision can be seen as an attempt to keep Baghel on his toes and not become strong like Gehlot, who is in a position where he can defy the party leadership. In terms of optics, Singh Deo’s elevation will appeal to the Rajput community in all the three poll-bound states, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh.

It seems Kamal Nath who is facing a tough fight with BJP in adjoining MP played a role in this decision. A section of upper castes upset with the SC/ST Atrocities Act had formed a party called SAPAKS and dented BJP’s prospects in MP in 2018. Now with reservations for Economically Weaker Sections, these voters are expected to go back to BJP thus neutralising the MP Congress’s advantage in 2018.

Pilot Falls In Line

Kharge has used a “carrot and stick” leadership style/policy towards Sachin Pilot. Without yielding too much to Sachin, neither Deputy CM nor State President post, he ensured that there is no split in the party and that it presents a united face before the state goes to polls later this year.

Thus Kharge not only smartly managed a brewing rebellion, he also ensured Pilot sang the unity tune in front of the press saying collective leadership was the "only way" forward going into the assembly polls. Pilot was also advised to make the famous “forget and forgive” remark and bury the hatchet with CM Gehlot. Pilot had very tellingly said, “"It was as much an advice as a directive."

Not many will forget Pilot’s rebellious tendencies in May and June when he defied a warning from the party and went ahead with a day-long fast targeting Gehlot over his "inaction" on alleged corruption during the previous Raje government.

Gehlot’s New Chains?

Perhaps, Kharge’s balancing act in ensuring Gehlot can't take all the calls mollified Pilot. The party has decided to contest the elections on the “collective leadership” model and Gehlot has been instructed to take action on the three demands of Pilot.

KC Venugopal, General Secretary (Organisation), in a press conference after the meeting of state representatives said that the Congress party has traditionally never announced any names of individuals who would head the government. Kharge is aware of the fact that without Pilot, it will be difficult for Gehlot to win the state despite his welfare policies being popular.

For the moment Kharge has established the high command’s supremacy. It remains to be seen if the truce in both states will hold or unravel soon. But putting CMs like Gehlot and Baghel in their place after their streak of defying or ignoring the high command’s wishes for quite some time now will certainly rank as a feather in Kharge’s cap.

Amitabh Tiwari is a former corporate and investment banker-turned political strategist and commentator. Twitter: @politicalbaaba. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.​