Bhopal: As the crushing defeat in Lok Sabha election triggered demand for change in state Congress leadership, Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s two ministers have made strong pitch for Jyotiraditya Scindia as MP party chief. Scindia, a four-time parliamentarian from Guna, has failed to even save his time-tested family bastion which he lost to BJP’s Dr KP Yadav. The defeat, a surprising one for the Congress, came by a margin of over one lakh twenty thousand votes. The issue came to the fore on a day when the CM Nath, who also holds MPCC chief post, chaired two meetings in state capital – first an informal meeting of his cabinet colleagues and later the meeting of party MLAs and Lok Sabha candidates to figure out reasons behind the LS polls loss.
At least two cabinet colleagues of Nath have demanded that Congress national general secretary in-charge for West UP and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia be made the MP Congress Committee (MPCC) president. The women and child development minister Imarti Devi (a known Scindia loyalist) and higher education and sports minister Jeetu Patwari have demanded that it’s high time that a young and energetic leader like Jyotiraditya Scindia be made the state Congress chief. “Scindia is best suited for the post of state Congress president presently, particularly because he is a young and charismatic leader, and also has a vision for future,” Patwari told journalists here.
While only two cabinet ministers went vocal raising the demand, their other ministerial colleagues are weighing the options. Two other ministers, one being animal husbandry minister Lakhan Singh Yadav (also a Scindia loyalist and MLA from Bhitarwar seat of Gwalior) and forest minister Umang Singhar (MLA from Gandhwani seat of Dhar district and the nephew of ex-MP deputy CM Jamuna Devi) too have expressed hope that the central party high command will take appropriate decision about state president’s post soon. On Saturday night, Congress national general secretary in-charge for MP, Deepak Babaria while talking to media had said that CM Kamal Nath had offered to resign from the post MPCC chief after the assembly polls last year and that the offer stands even today.Babaria had also hinted towards the state Congress getting a new head within a month, particularly as the Lok Sabha polls are over now. However, on Sunday Nath denied offering making any offer of the resignation. Meanwhile, senior leader Govind Goyal and Digvijaya Singh’s MLA brother Laxman Singh too have raised the issue of need for change in guard in state Congress organisation.
