Fears rivalry between colleagues may impact government functioning: Trying to broker peace
BHOPAL : The cold and the not-so-cold wars between ministers seems to prompted the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to subject his colleagues to a stiff lecture on ‘team spirit’ during an informal meeting of the cabinet on Friday.
Despite Chouhan’s intervention from time to time, disputes between ministers are not abating. These conflicts are affecting the government’s performance. Chouhan fears that the rivalry
between ministers may aggravate after the expansion of the council of ministers and that is why he is emphasising on coordination.
Yashodhara versus Pavaiya:
Sports minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia and the newly-appointed minister of state for higher education Jaibhaan Singh Pavaiya are old rivals. Pavaiya was never on cordial terms with the Scindia family in Gwalior. Pavaiya has been assigned the charge of Guna and Ashok Nagar districts. Both are part of the Guna Parliamentary constituency, which has returned Jyotiraditya Scindia to the Lok Sabha. One of the mandates of Pavaiya is to challenge the domination of Jyotiraditya. Yashodharaje has been elected to the assembly from Shivpuri assembly constituency, which is close to the districts in Pavaiya’s charge.
Chouhan fears that the dispute between Yashodhara and Pavaiya may escalate and that is why he is urging them to maintain coordination.
Rampal versus Patwa
Rampal Singh and Surendra Patwa do not have good rapport with one-another, belonging, as they do, to Raisen district.
Their differences have aggravated with appointments in party organisation and ticket distribution in minor elections.
Chief Minister, on many occasions, had to come forward to broker peace between them. Both the ministers have been asked to maintain coordination.
Mehadale versus Mallaiya
Kusum Mehadale and Jayant Mallaiya were always at loggerheads, as far in the politics of the Bundelkhand region. Mehadale, a Lodhi, did not help Mallaiya get Lodhi votes during Vidhan Sabha elections in his constituency Damoh. Malliaya, in turn, is patronising the rivals of Mehadale. Now Mehdale has been made in-charge of Damoh.
Vishwas versus Umashankar
After Vishwas Sarang’s appointment as a minister, the tussle between Umashankar Gupta and Sarang may further intensify. The tussle has led to confrontations between the supporters of Umashankar and Vishwas on many occasions in the past. With Babulal Gaur’s removal from the ministry, the chief minister fears that they may get into an ugly race for dominating the politics of Bhopal.
Bhupendra versus Bhargava
Bhupendra Singh and Gopal Bhargava are old rivals in the politics of Sagar. They both want to rule the roost in the divisional headquarter town. As an outcome of their tussle, the party had to face problems in Sagar in the past too. The BJP leaders are trying that their conflict should not affect the prospects of the party in the coming Assembly elections.