Kamal Nath: Rahul Gandhi’s confidant, Congress’ trusted 'backdoor negotiator'

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept through the Hindi heartland.

In PM Modi’s home state Gujarat and neighbouring Rajasthan, the BJP staged a clean sweep – bagging 26 and 25 seats respectively.

However, the BJP could not do the same in Madhya Pradesh — a state considered to be a saffron bastion and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s playground. The BJP failed to win two seats in the state — Guna and Chhindwara.

Both constituencies were won by the Congress. While Guna was retained by former Union minister and titular head of the Scindia royal family, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Chhindwara was retained by Kamal Nath.

Spearheading Congress’ charge

In April, Congress President Rahul Gandhi appointed Nath, a former Union minister, as the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President.

The move to appoint a 71-year-old politician as the chief of a poll-bound state did raise eyebrows in political circles.

Even though the party has decided to not nominate anyone before the polls, Nath is one of the leading contenders for the chief minister’s position.

Reports citing Congress sources suggest that Nath was chosen because of his deep pockets and keeping in mind the party’s financial constraints. Nath is one of the richest Members of Parliament (MPs) and had declared assets of over Rs 206 crore in his 2014 election affidavit.

He is, however, a nine-time parliamentarian from tribal-dominated Chhindwara seat in Madhya Pradesh and is one of the senior-most members in the Lower House of Parliament.

His strategy was clear from the get-go — Congress had to hit the BJP where it hurts most. After governing the state for 15 years, the saffron party may have chinks in its armour which could be exploited by Congress.

The party has been raising issues of farmer distress, unemployment and have been playing the ‘soft Hindutva’ card to neutralise BJP and the RSS.

Also read: Congress promises jobs, farm loan waiver and gaushalas

‘Outsider’

Nath was born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and studied at The Doon School in Dehradun. He pursued Bachelor of Commerce at the St Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta.

This, many in the Congress fear, could make him look like an outsider despite having been an MP from a seat in the state for 37 years.

Relations with the Nehru-Gandhi family

Nath has been a close confidant of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Former prime minister Indira Gandhi had introduced him to the people of Chhindwara saying, “This is my third son. Please vote for him.”

At some point, 'Indira ke do haath, Sanjay Gandhi aur Kamal Nath (Indira’s two hands, Sanjay Gandhi and Kamal Nath)' was a popular slogan. Sanjay Gandhi was Nath’s schoolmate. Nath was also close to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

He has been former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s trusted backdoor negotiator too. He played an important role in managing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) 2.

In 2016, Nath’s close ties with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)’s Mayawati helped a Congress candidate win a Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh despite the party falling short by two seats.

These ties with Mayawati, however, did not work during the seat-sharing negotiations for the assembly polls. The talks broke down between the two sides with Mayawati deciding to contest the polls alone. The BSP not allying could negatively impact Congress in not just Madhya Pradesh but Chhattisgarh as well, analysts suggest.

Also read: Will the third front be able to make a mark?

Holding key ministries

Nath was first elected to the 7th Lok Sabha in 1980 — the general election where Indira Gandhi won a landslide victory.

In 1991, he was inducted into the Union cabinet as a minister for environment and forests. Between 1995 and 1996, he served as the minister of state for textiles with independent charge.

Nath served as the party’s General Secretary between 2001 and 2004, when Congress was in opposition during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government.

When UPA 1 came to power, Nath was made the minister for commerce and industry. Upon re-election in 2009, he was given charge of the road transport and highways ministry. In a cabinet reshuffle two years later, Nath became the minister of urban development. Additionally, he was given charge of parliamentary affairs ministry the following year.

Yet, according to the India Today-Axis my India opinion survey, Nath trails in the list of preferred chief ministerial candidates.

Only 8 percent of the respondents wanted Nath to become the next chief minister as opposed to 32 percent for Scindia and 46 percent for incumbent Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Also read: How the election may impact BJP, Congress ahead of 2019

As the elections near, the infighting between the factions has also heated up. So far, the party’s central command has refused to name a candidate.

On October 30, when asked about the candidate, Rahul Gandhi said, "Why do I have to declare? There are certain things which Kamal Nath brings to the table and there are certain things that Jyotiraditya Scindia does.”

“Kamal Nath has experience, and good looks, while Scindia is young and dynamic. I have to carry all these capabilities. The people of the state will decide who will be CM, but why should I not use their capabilities?" he added, keeping Nath’s fate hanging in the balance.

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