Page 9 - 15MAR2020E

of any powerful state leader fearing to the ouster of Congress govern- ity to loyalty to the leader rather than
emergence of a rival to challenge their ment led by CM Kamal Nath, central to the party is a bad precedent that
grip on the party. These experts cited leadership of the Congress is seem- ultimately ruins the party.
the examples of sidelining of Raman ingly accountable for this downfall Youth of the day is seemingly not at-
Singh and Shivraj Chouhan who had because of its either incompetence or tracted towards Congress but falling an
served for three terms continuously as miscalculation or deliberate insist- easy prey to the propaganda blitzkrieg
chief minister in their respective states. ence on letting the things go haywire. of the BJP. It is high time for the Con-
It becomes discernible from multi- Madhya Pradesh is not an example gress top-brass to address this malaise
ple media reports that MP unit of BJP is that has occurred in isolation, similar and devise well-concerted strategy
faction-ridden. One faction is headed instances have already taken place in to attract capable and dynamic youth
by former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan Goa, Meghalaya and Karnataka and the to its rank and file, if it wants to be
and another group is headed by Narot- top brass in the Congress has refused reckoned with as a political force in the
tam Mishra. to learn from such mistakes and rather Indian politics.
And with the joining of Jyotiraditya has continued to take such occur-
Scindia along with his supporters, the rences for a ride. resort PolitiCs
possibility of another rival group head- Media reports explicitly denote A new trend, known as ‘Resort Politics’,
ed either by Vasundhraraje Scindia or that Congress is faction-ridden; and has come to roost Indian political fir-
Jyotiraditya Scindia cannot be ruled undoubtedly, factionalism is a com- mament for past some years wherein
out. In that eventuality, the ephemeral mon feature characterizing almost all defected elected representatives to
jubilation over induction of Jyotiradi- political parties across the spectrum in parties other than the one on which
tya Scindia in the BJP camp can prove India; nonetheless, Congress is more they got elected are kept in resorts
to be a permanent liability for the rival acutely afflicted by this malaise. Prior- until incumbent party is ousted from
camps within the party. the power. A dangerous trend ex-
tremely detrimental to the cause of
Congress’ Dilemma democracy is gaining traction of which
Keeping in view the backdrop of devel- Madhya Pradesh is the latest example.
opments obtaining in MP over the past Popularly known This resort politics was first experi-
many months that finally culminated among his followers mented in Karnataka successfully by
in the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia along the BJP. In Karnataka, when MLAs
with his supporters thereby leading as ‘Mamaji’, Chouhan resigned from the Congress, they were
was sworn in chief kept in a resort/hotel and this politi-
cal gambit resulted in the change of
minister of Madhya the Congress-JD (S) government and
Pradesh thrice earlier induction of BJP leader Yedyurappa as
CM.
- in 2005, after Uma The same Karnataka experiment
Bharti stepped down was replicated by the BJP in Madhya
Pradesh, where, as per the media
over a riots case, and reports, the 22 Congress MLAs, who
for later two full terms suddenly were obsessed by a longing
to enjoy the hospitality at a resort and
in 2008 and 2013. He escaped to Bangalore, were induced
by monetary gains and the prospect
stepped down after of gaining ministerial berths in a new
the Congress won a government led by the BJP.
Some experts have opined that mil-
narrow majority in lions of rupees must have exchanged
the December 2018 hands in bargaining. Even if these
defected MLAs fail to gain ministerial
Assembly elections, berth in the new BJP government, they
after which the Kamal would not be able to nurse any grouse
owing to having received large sums
Nath government came of money for defection and fear of
to power raids by the enforcement directorate
or CBI will force them to keep mum.

9