Equation among the Congress leaders seems to have changed after the party lost power in the state.
When Kamal Nath was the chief minister some leaders were very close to him, but they are no more as active as they were earlier.
The leaders, like Tarun Bhanot, Govind Singh and Bala Bachchan, were close to Nath during his tenure as chief minister and called the shots.
Nevertheless, after the Congress lost power, Sajjan Singh Verma and NP Prajapati have been close to Nath.
As MPCC president Nath gives most of the assignments to these two leaders. Apart from Nath, there are four working presidents in MPCC. They are Jitu Patwari, Surendra Choudhary, Ramniwan Rawat and Bala Bachchan.
In place of Sobha Oza, Nath has appointed Patwari as the chairman of the party’s media committee. So the role of three other working presidents has been limited.
Rawat considered a Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist refused to leave the Congress and join the BJP.
He has been active for a few days, but he is not able to adjust himself to Nath’s team. So his enthusiasm seems to have waned.
Govind Singh was seen the most active of all Congress legislators after the party lost power. His name was proposed for the post of leader of opposition. But after a faction of the Congress got Singh’s name removed for the post, he does not look as close to Nath as he was earlier.
Bhanot, too, was very active in saving the government. Now, he, too, is getting away from the mainstream of the party. He has not been given any important assignment for the ensuing by-elections.
Verma, always been close to Nath, is unofficially running the PCC. Prajapati is assisting him.
Prajapati, considered close to former MPCC president Suresh Pachauri, is now solely with Nath.
Others like Chandraprabhas Shekhar and Prakash Jain, considered close to Nath, are active in the PCC.
Another confidant of Pachauri, Rajiv Singh, has also become close to Nath. The leaders, close to former chief minister Digvijaya Singh who were active in the PCC, seem to have lost their enthusiasm.
Both Verma and Prajpati are giving responsibilities to the party leaders. When the government was in trouble Nath used to discuss with Pachauri, former leader of opposition Ajay Singh and former PCC president Arun Yadav.
Nath is not giving any weight to these leaders after his government lost power.
Many Congress leaders are worried about the internal squabbling in the party. Before the Vidhan Sabha elections when Nath became the PCC chief, factionalism in the Congress lessened.
After the Congress formed the government, it did not give importance to senior leaders of the party. Now, factionalism has again come to light before the by-elections.
According to political analysts, factionalism is part of Congress culture. So it does not matter much for the party. They say the Congress could not impress the people after coming to power, and it may damage the party in the by-elections.
