More than a decade since he was chief minister, the Congress leader has found in the Vyapam scam the perfect vehicle to try and wrest control of the fractious state party unit.
Given the complexity of the Vyapam, or cash-for-jobs, scandal, the Central Bureau of Investigation’s probe into the relevant cases is likely to continue beyond 2018, the year when an assembly election in Madhya Pradesh is due. Whether the Congress can galvanise its workers to oust the scam-scalded ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hinges on three factors.
First, who, if anyone, will emerge as the party’s most acceptable leader in the state? Second, will more skeletons tumble out of the state government's cupboard? Three, will the Modi government at the Centre deliver on promises it has made?
For now, Congress workers appear to be rallying behind party general secretary Digvijay Singh. But the two-time chief minister maintains that he is no longer interested in a post that he had held for a decade until 2003. “I am now in national politics. Why should I opt for leadership in state?" he said.
Most state Congress leaders are sceptical of his statement. They contend that it was not for nothing that Singh invested so much time and energy to get the Supreme Court to initiate a CBI probe into the scam. “Is he after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s scalp only to avenge his humiliating defeat 12 years ago?” asked a senior Congress leader rhetorically, adding, “It looks most unlikely.”
Singh’s march with Congress workers in Bhopal on July 16, when the party had called for a bandh in the state over the Vyapam scam, betrays his ambition, said some senior colleagues.
The government’s efforts to thwart the bandh succeeded to a great extent, with life continuing more or less as usual. Yet the Congress sounded jubilant, while the ruling party never looked more nervous.
Singh’s government fell because of accusations of corruption, so one can detect in Singh’s acerbic comments a sense of glee at the predicament of his bête noire, who is in his third term. “The Chouhan government organises official functions for kanya daan for marriageable girls, now he should also launch a scheme for pind daan of youths in the state,” Singh recently tweeted, referring to a Hindu rite for wishing peace for the soul of someone who has died. The morbid comment was a reference to nationwide outrage over Vyapam-related deaths, whose official count is 32, but could be as high as 46.
Leaving home
Going by the past, Singh cannot to be taken at his word about his political plans. Observers were tempted to write his political obituary when he announced in the aftermath of the poll defeat that he would stay off electoral politics for 10 years. Yet he retained the Raghogarh assembly seat for the next five years and accepted the Congress general secretary post in 2004, provoking sarcastic remarks about his earlier pledge.
But if, belying his public statements, he were to come back to state politics, he will find that his base in Madhya Pradesh has severely eroded, even though he may have found a place in national politics. His demoralised supporters started deserting him after the party high command nominated the late Subhash Yadav to the post of Madhya Pradesh party chief following the poll debacle. During Yadav’s tenure, Digvijay Singh would only occasionally come from New Delhi to Bhopal, meet his supporters and attend assembly sessions. His engagement with the state did not increase after Suresh Pachouri succeeded Yadav in 2007.
Three years later, Singh’s supporters hoped their fortunes would turn in the state Congress, when Kantilal Bhuria replaced Pachouri and Ajay Singh succeeded the late Jamuna Devi as leader of opposition. Both Bhuria, a former minister in the UPA government at the centre, and Ajay Singh, son of the late Congress leader Arjun Singh, are known Digvijay Singh supporters. But the twin changes did little to resuscitate the moribund Congress. His protégés, Ajay Singh and Bhuria, performed dismally and further alienated Digvijay Singh from state Congress workers.
Singh’s disengagement with the state looked near complete when the high command gave Jyotiraditya Scindia the job of leading the party back to power in the 2013 assembly election. It is an open secret that Scindia and Singh don’t get along. The third successive Congress defeat, in that election, forced Scindia to end his brief dalliance with the state unit and Singh to further curtail his visits to Bhopal.
The defeat triggered yet another change of guard. Arun Yadav, son of the late Subhash Yadav and a former union minister, succeeded Bhuria as state Congress president. Satya Deo Katare took over as leader of opposition from Ajay Singh. Neither Arun Yadav nor Katare is considered to be in Singh’s camp.
Returning home
But in early 2014, Singh decided to reconsolidate his base in the state Congress. By then, the cash-for-jobs scam had begun to snowball into a huge corruption scandal, with a spate of arrests. Singh chose to ride the scam as a comeback vehicle. His demands for a CBI probe into the scam became louder and more frequent. Before long, he had almost wrested the Congress initiative to embarrass Chouhan's government.
In November, Singh moved the Madhya Pradesh high court to seek a CBI probe into the scam. But the court rejected his plea and instead ordered the government to set up a special investigation team to supervise the probe already being conducted by a special task force. Singh moved the Supreme Court against the decision, only to be disappointed.
On February 16, Singh addressed a joint press conference with top lawyers and senior party leaders such as Kamal Nath and Jyotirditya Scindia. They alleged that the chief minister was directly involved in the scam, which he denies. Singh submitted what he said was incontrovertible documentary evidence to the special investigation team chairman, justice Chandresh Bhushan. The high court, however, rejected his proof, saying it was forged.
But emboldened by the media’s ample coverage of the mysterious deaths related to the scam, Singh again moved the Supreme Court for a CBI probe, finally succeeding on July 9, and advancing in his long-drawn legal and political battles against Chouhan.
First, who, if anyone, will emerge as the party’s most acceptable leader in the state? Second, will more skeletons tumble out of the state government's cupboard? Three, will the Modi government at the Centre deliver on promises it has made?
For now, Congress workers appear to be rallying behind party general secretary Digvijay Singh. But the two-time chief minister maintains that he is no longer interested in a post that he had held for a decade until 2003. “I am now in national politics. Why should I opt for leadership in state?" he said.
Most state Congress leaders are sceptical of his statement. They contend that it was not for nothing that Singh invested so much time and energy to get the Supreme Court to initiate a CBI probe into the scam. “Is he after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s scalp only to avenge his humiliating defeat 12 years ago?” asked a senior Congress leader rhetorically, adding, “It looks most unlikely.”
Singh’s march with Congress workers in Bhopal on July 16, when the party had called for a bandh in the state over the Vyapam scam, betrays his ambition, said some senior colleagues.
The government’s efforts to thwart the bandh succeeded to a great extent, with life continuing more or less as usual. Yet the Congress sounded jubilant, while the ruling party never looked more nervous.
Singh’s government fell because of accusations of corruption, so one can detect in Singh’s acerbic comments a sense of glee at the predicament of his bête noire, who is in his third term. “The Chouhan government organises official functions for kanya daan for marriageable girls, now he should also launch a scheme for pind daan of youths in the state,” Singh recently tweeted, referring to a Hindu rite for wishing peace for the soul of someone who has died. The morbid comment was a reference to nationwide outrage over Vyapam-related deaths, whose official count is 32, but could be as high as 46.
Leaving home
Going by the past, Singh cannot to be taken at his word about his political plans. Observers were tempted to write his political obituary when he announced in the aftermath of the poll defeat that he would stay off electoral politics for 10 years. Yet he retained the Raghogarh assembly seat for the next five years and accepted the Congress general secretary post in 2004, provoking sarcastic remarks about his earlier pledge.
But if, belying his public statements, he were to come back to state politics, he will find that his base in Madhya Pradesh has severely eroded, even though he may have found a place in national politics. His demoralised supporters started deserting him after the party high command nominated the late Subhash Yadav to the post of Madhya Pradesh party chief following the poll debacle. During Yadav’s tenure, Digvijay Singh would only occasionally come from New Delhi to Bhopal, meet his supporters and attend assembly sessions. His engagement with the state did not increase after Suresh Pachouri succeeded Yadav in 2007.
Three years later, Singh’s supporters hoped their fortunes would turn in the state Congress, when Kantilal Bhuria replaced Pachouri and Ajay Singh succeeded the late Jamuna Devi as leader of opposition. Both Bhuria, a former minister in the UPA government at the centre, and Ajay Singh, son of the late Congress leader Arjun Singh, are known Digvijay Singh supporters. But the twin changes did little to resuscitate the moribund Congress. His protégés, Ajay Singh and Bhuria, performed dismally and further alienated Digvijay Singh from state Congress workers.
Singh’s disengagement with the state looked near complete when the high command gave Jyotiraditya Scindia the job of leading the party back to power in the 2013 assembly election. It is an open secret that Scindia and Singh don’t get along. The third successive Congress defeat, in that election, forced Scindia to end his brief dalliance with the state unit and Singh to further curtail his visits to Bhopal.
The defeat triggered yet another change of guard. Arun Yadav, son of the late Subhash Yadav and a former union minister, succeeded Bhuria as state Congress president. Satya Deo Katare took over as leader of opposition from Ajay Singh. Neither Arun Yadav nor Katare is considered to be in Singh’s camp.
Returning home
But in early 2014, Singh decided to reconsolidate his base in the state Congress. By then, the cash-for-jobs scam had begun to snowball into a huge corruption scandal, with a spate of arrests. Singh chose to ride the scam as a comeback vehicle. His demands for a CBI probe into the scam became louder and more frequent. Before long, he had almost wrested the Congress initiative to embarrass Chouhan's government.
In November, Singh moved the Madhya Pradesh high court to seek a CBI probe into the scam. But the court rejected his plea and instead ordered the government to set up a special investigation team to supervise the probe already being conducted by a special task force. Singh moved the Supreme Court against the decision, only to be disappointed.
On February 16, Singh addressed a joint press conference with top lawyers and senior party leaders such as Kamal Nath and Jyotirditya Scindia. They alleged that the chief minister was directly involved in the scam, which he denies. Singh submitted what he said was incontrovertible documentary evidence to the special investigation team chairman, justice Chandresh Bhushan. The high court, however, rejected his proof, saying it was forged.
But emboldened by the media’s ample coverage of the mysterious deaths related to the scam, Singh again moved the Supreme Court for a CBI probe, finally succeeding on July 9, and advancing in his long-drawn legal and political battles against Chouhan.
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