MP Elections 2023: Cautious Congress promoting non-dynasts for future leadership

New, younger Congress leaders who cannot be called dynasts are being groomed by the central leadership.

Are MLA Jaivardhan Singh, son of Digvijaya Singh (76), and Lok Sabha member from Chhindwara Nakul  Nath, son of Kamal Nath, (77),  potential threats to rise of the second line of Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh?

This is the subtext of the BJP’s propaganda in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. Dynasty in the Congress is one of the major election planks of the ruling party.

Limited Reach Of Dynasty

However, the political history of Madhya Pradesh suggests that such a bogey about dynastic rule is misplaced. From Pt Ravishankar Shukla to the incumbent Shivraj Singh Chouhan, none of the chief ministers have been political dynasts, except late Pt Shyama Charan Shukla.

He too had not inherited the political legacy directly from his father, the first chief minister of MP, late Ravishakar Shukla.  The junior Shukla became the chief minister in the late 1960s, a good decade after the death of his father. In the interregnum, four chief ministers had assumed the CM’s office.

Of course, Madhya Pradesh has a rich legacy of political dynasties holding important positions in the ruling party and successive state governments but none rose beyond a cabinet minister’s post. The highest post a dynast has held so far was that of leader of opposition.

Former Chief Minister Arjun Singh’s son Ajay Singh was the leader of opposition in the state assembly for three years between 2010 and 2013.

Congress Cautious On Dynastic Favouritism

Now that the censure of dynastic rule in politics is one of the main issues in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda, the possibility of a dynast becoming Chief Minister in the state is even more remote.

Although the Congress leadership is non-committal on the issue, the first family of the party – the Gandhis – appears to be more cautious than before about mollycoddling dynasts in the party.

This was reflected in the election of Mallikarjun Kharge as party president. The trend has percolated down to state level too.

Three Rising Stars In MP

The Congress’s cautiousness in picking non-dynasts from the second line of leaders in Madhya Pradesh for elevation is evident in the recent nominations of three young leaders.

Jitu Patwari, Kamleshwar Patel (OBC) and Omkar Singh Markam (tribal) are the three rising stars in the MP Congress who owe direct allegiance to Rahul Gandhi. Patwari (49) was made co-chairman of the MP Congress election campaign committee: Kamleshwar Patel (49) was a surprise inclusion in the all-powerful Congress Working  Committee ; and Omkar Singh Markam ( 42) was selected as one of the members in the 16-member  Central Election Committee. Jaivardhan and Nakul Nath are absent from the three panels.

Two more youth leaders – former MP Meenakshi Natarajan and former state minister Umang Singhar – are known as members of Team Rahul.

Of these, Patel and Singhar could be termed as belonging to political dynasties, though their rise is not directly attributable to the legacy of their mentors. Two-time MLA from backward Sidhi district in the Vindhya region, Kamaleshwar Patel is the son of former minister late Indrajit Patel, who was very close to late Arjun Singh. Two-time MLA Umang Singhar is the nephew of former deputy chief minister and fiery tribal leader late Jamuna Devi from Dhar district in Malwa region.

Patwari, Patel and Markam were cabinet ministers in the short-lived Kamal Nath government. Patwari has been one of the four working presidents of the MPCC too. He shot into the limelight when Rahul Gandhi pillion-rode on his motorbike into Mandsaur. The former AICC chief had gone to Mandsaur in the Malwa region in the aftermath of the police firing on agitating farmers that claimed six lives in June 2017.

The two-time MLA from Rau (Indore) constituency, Jitu Patwari has carved an independent niche for himself in the party while maintaining cordial ties with both Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. Assured of the blessings of Rahul Gandhi, the Young Turk appears unafraid of being overshadowed by either Jaivardhan Singh or Nakul Nath. Patwari led one of the seven “Jan Akrosh Yatra” launched by the party on September 19.

If the Congress is voted to power, Patwari’s place in the future cabinet is almost assured.

Three-time MLA from Dindori district of the predominantly  tribal region in Mahakoshal, Omkar Singh Markam, three-time MLA from Dhar district, Singhar, and two-time MLA, Patel are equally confident of again finding berths in the future Kamal Nath-led government, should the Congress win.

Former MP youth Congress chief Meenakshi Natarajan is hopeful of being picked up for the Lok Sabha election from the Mandsaur seat which she had won in 2009 but lost in subsequent elections.

Jaivardhan Singh and Nakul Nath too have promising careers but right now they are basking in the reflected glory of their illustrious fathers.

Irony Of The BJP Allegations

The irony of BJP raising the spectre of dynastic rule if the Congress is voted to power in Madhya Pradesh couldn’t have been starker.

The kin of eight former chief ministers are contesting the assembly election and five of them are doing so on the BJP tickets. Sons of three former chief ministers of the Congress in the fray are Ajay Singh (son of late Arjun Singh), Jaivardhan Singh ( son of Digvijaya Singh and Deepak Joshi ( son of late Kailash Joshi).

On the other hand, the BJP has fielded the kin of five former chief ministers. They are Dhruv Narayan Singh (son of late Govind Narayan Singh), Om Prakash ( son of late VK Sakhlecha) , Surendra Patwa (adopted son of Sundar Lal Patwa), Ms Krishna Gaur (daughter-in-law of late Babulal Gaur) and Rahul Lodhi ( nephew of Uma Bharti).

Rakesh Dixit is a senior journalist based in Bhopal. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.