Bhopal: As the assembly elections draw closer, the Congress is increasingly making its presence felt in the state while the BJP organisation seems to be losing steam. The AICC general secretary in-charge for Madhya Pradesh Deepak Bavaria is constantly in the news while his BJP counterpart Vinay Sahasrabuddhe has turned his back on the state since his appointment as the chairman of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Bavaria was appointed state in-charge in September last year. Since then, he has visited the state as many as ten times. And these were not whistle-stop tours either. Every time he stayed in the capital for two-three days and also visited other areas. His tours have helped activate the district-level leaders of the party.
On February 1, Bavaria is scheduled to interview the party MLAs to quiz them about their activities and their preparations for the elections. Congress President Rahul Gandhi had made Bavaria the state in-charge with the primary mandate of reenergising the party machinery. Bavaria is interacting on a regular basis with MLAs, former MLAs, DCC chiefs, student leaders and elected representatives of urban civic bodies, besides leaders of different communities and classes.
He has already toured the Malwa, Bundelkhand, Mahakaushal and other regions of the state. According to Congress’ chief spokesperson K K Mishra, Bavaria’s dynamism and enthusiasm was rubbing off on the party leaders down the line. He said that Bavaria has already held a series of meetings with representatives of different groups, communities and classes and that has served to recharge the grassroots level Congress workers.
The BJP, on the other hand, is a study in contrast. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the party’s national general secretary in-charge for the state has stopped taking interest in the party affairs since his appointment as chairperson of the ICCR in December. He has not visited the state even once since then. Even earlier, his activities were nothing to write home about. He had even failed to implement the programmes that were finalised in the presence of the national BJP president Amit Shah.
Sahasrabuddhe’s disinterest has translated into the state BJP organisation losing its vigour. Amit Shah had asked Sahasrabuddhe to organise motorbike rallies of BJYM workers in the state on January 31. The plan seems to have been abandoned. Shah had also asked Sahasrabuddhe to hold meetings with MPs, MLAs and defeated candidates of the party. But that too is in limbo.
