Wednesday’s announcement of Ashok Singh’s name as the Congress candidate from Madhya Pradesh for the February 27 biennial Rajya Sabha elections ended days of speculations that former Chief Minister Kamal Nath could be sent to the Upper House.
Speculations on his push for a Rajya Sabha berth, going on for days, had paced up after he had met former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on February 9.
There were also reports that Mr. Nath had the support of several of the 66 Congress MLAs and if he did not get a Rajya Sabha ticket, he could shift loyalties. Various statements from BJP leaders that their “doors were open for everyone” further added to the buzz suggesting that Mr. Nath could end his decades-old association with the grand old party and join the BJP.
Congress spokesperson Alok Sharma, in a recent interview to a news channel, had openly accused Mr. Nath of having “an understanding with the BJP”. Mr. Sharma was later issued a show-cause notice but his response was never made public.
Though Mr. Nath on Tuesday categorically denied that he was ever in the race and said he had “never thought” about a Rajya Sabha ticket, various Congress sources in Bhopal confirmed that the former Chief Minister wanted to go back to the national politics.
At least two Madhya Pradesh Congress insiders told The Hindu that the party high command was not “very happy with the kind of pressure tactics he was using”, while another claimed that Mr. Nath “did not need to put any pressure” as he has direct approach with Ms. Gandhi.
“The whole buzz about his joining the BJP did not send a positive message and he never firmly denied them,” one insider said.
Show of strength
Mr. Nath had also invited all party MLAs for a dinner at his residence in Bhopal on Tuesday night, which was seen as a show of strength by him. The dinner was also attended by State Congress chief Jitu Patwari and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Umang Singhar.
Reports also surfaced in the local media that MLAs had been asked to “sign on blank papers” during the dinner meeting.
After the meeting, Mr. Patwari, however, said the MLAs held discussions on how to counter the BJP government over issues of farmers and women. “Kamal Nath ji expressed emotions [of MLAs] that all of us have to stay united in support of the candidate chosen by the party. In a way, he gave us lesson to put up a united front,” he told media persons.
The source, however, confirmed the reports of making MLAs sign blank papers and claimed that the dinner meeting was seen as “a move to put pressure on the leadership”. “But it appears it pissed them even more,” he added.
Another source said the Delhi leadership did not “want to encourage” Mr. Nath’s dominance in the State any further after the Assembly polls.
Days after the November Assembly poll rout, in which the Congress only won 66 seats as opposed to the BJP’s 163, Mr. Nath was replaced as State unit president with Mr. Patwari.
“In the Assembly polls [that the Congress lost] the high command gave him a free hand but we got one of our worst defeats in a long time. Ever since, the party leadership wanted to tone down his influence,” the leader said.
“Even in the Alok Sharma episode, he did not get as much support from Delhi as he had hoped. The show-cause notice was just a formality and no serious action has been taken against him,” the source said, claiming that a national general secretary of the Congress “had gotten Mr. Sharma to make those remarks against Mr. Nath”.
The source said that the high command seems to “deliver one message very clearly” that it wants to promote the leaders who can lead the party in future.
The Congress leader also said that various other leaders, including former PCC chief Arun Yadav, were also in the fray of the Rajya Sabha ticket, but senior leader and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh succeeded in securing it for his confidant Mr. Ashok Singh.
“Digvijaya ji has gotten him Lok Sabha tickets in the past and even this time, he made sure that he gets the Rajya Sabha seat,” the source said, adding that Mr. Digvijaya Singh continues to enjoy the high command’s confidence.
Anti-Scindia strategy
Mr. Ashok Singh is also considered a rival of the Scindia royal family and his nomination is also being seen as the Congress’s strategy to counter Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s impact in the region ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The source said, “For a very long time, he has done mahal ke virodh ki rajneeti (the politics of challenging the royal Scindia family).”
“Despite a claim from Mr. Nath himself, if Mr. Digvijaya Singh gets a ticket for his aide, this shows that his stature has not decreased,” the leader.
The leader also said that Mr. Ashok Singh is also close to various central leaders of the party. “He is financially sound and owns a big hotel in Gwalior. During any party event, he turns his hotel into the Congress office or guest house for leaders and workers,” he added.
Mr. Nath had won from Chhindwara Assembly constituency in the last year’s State Assembly elections, which the party had fought under his leadership. His son, Nakul Nath, is the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Chhindwara parliamentary constituency.
