Indore (Madhya Pradesh): BJP's landslide victory in Madhya Pradesh has not only completely shattered the Congress but also left the grand old party in “nowhere to go” zone.
After losing election under the leadership of PCC chief Kamal Nath, Congress has no promising face left who can take the party forward from here on.
In last 20 years, the Congress tried and tested all its ace leaders but what it got in return was defeat after defeat, barring in 2018 elections.
The Congress lost election under the leadership of Digvijaya Singh in 2003, Suresh Pachouri in 2008 and Vivek Tankha in 2013. Having failed in all these three assembly elections, the Congress had tired a new formula by making Kamal Nath president of state and Jyotiraditya Scindia, the chairman of election campaign committee in 2018.
This formula worked and Congress managed to gain power in the state with support of independents, SP and BSP candidates. But the power struggle between Nath and Scindia led to the latter crossing over to the BJP along with his loyalist legislators. This resulted in fall of Congress government in the state in just 15 months in power.
The Congress, however, put its weight behind 77-year-old Nath in 2023 election but tasted a humiliating defeat. Congress can’t go ahead with aging Nath but it does not have any suitable replacement. Digvijaya Singh, who was considered responsible for Congress rout in 2003, isn’t a choice as his tenure in the state is remembered for long power cuts and poor road infrastructure. Former CM Arjun Singh’s son Ajay Singh, though he managed to win this time, had lost assembly polls in 2018 and parliamentary election in 2019 and isn’t a popular face.
The probable candidates including Jitu Patwari, Sajjan Singh Verma, Govind Singh and Vijaylaxmi Sadho, all lost election in the BJP’s wave.
In such a situation, Digvijaya Singh may push his son Jaivardhan Singh for state party president post. However, he is a political naïve. And after six month, Lok Sabha elections are due.
