It has been 20 years since the Digvijaya Singh-led Congress government lost power in Madhya Pradesh over the BSP factor — bijli, sadak and pani — but the BJP continues to train its guns on Mr. Singh and his 10-year-rule.
“The team of Kamal Nath-Digvijaya Singh ruled MP for 10 years and Digvijaya ji was the Chief Minister. What was the situation then in M.P.? They made it a BIMARU State,” Home Minister Amit Shah said at a public rally in M.P.’s Datia on Monday.
The acronym BIMARU, coined by demographer Ashish Bose, refers to the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh because of their poor economic and social development indices.
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“The entire Chambal area, from Datia to Bhind-Morena, was full of outlaws, dacoits and gangs. People couldn’t step out of their homes in the evening. All those gangs have been eliminated now,” Mr. Shah added.
Beyond the law and order issues, Mr. Singh’s 10-year-old rule (1993-2003) became synonymous with acute power shortage, poor condition of roads and water scarcity. Though he took a self-imposed exile from electoral politics for 10 years after being ousted by the BJP in 2003, the saffron party continues to target him over his controversial statements.
By 2018, the Congress had recalibrated its strategy by projecting the collective leadership of Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia (then with the Congress) and keeping Mr. Singh in the background. However, the former Chief Minister continues to be one of the biggest backroom strategists for the party in M.P.
Plans and schemes
In November 2021, it was Mr. Singh who conceptualised the two-week-long Jan Jagran Abhigyan that involved travelling and staying over in rural areas, an aggressive campaign against price rise and an outreach effort aimed at Dalit communities.
The former Chief Minister also visited 66 vulnerable constituencies by drawing up a list of seats where the Congress had lost in the past three or more Assembly elections consecutively. As campaigning entered its peak, Mr. Singh has focused on 70 seats.
“Raja sahib [as Mr. Singh is fondly called by his supporters] is one leader who is connected to the ground and knows workers in every block,” said Yogendra Singh Parihar, a member of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and a Digvijaya loyalist.
“For the past several days, he has been covering anywhere between five and nine constituencies,” he added.
However, given the past controversies involving his public statements, Mr. Singh seems to be avoiding giving extensive media interviews; he has stuck to offering short soundbites to TV crews instead.
Insiders claimed that he [Mr. Singh] also gave specific instructions to party workers not to use his photographs on posters and banners, after which the Congress campaign has revolved around the party’s guarantees, with Kamal Nath as its face.
Though “Dijvijaya ke kapde fadho [tear Digvijaya’s clothes]” comment by Mr. Nath to a group of Congress supporters went viral on social media platforms, the latter denied any rivalry and clarified that the comment was made in jest.
“These are absolutely baseless charges,” Mr. Nath had told The Hindu earlier in an interview on his reported differences with Mr. Singh.
In the high-stakes battle for Madhya Pradesh, the Congress party seems to have neatly divided the responsibilities between its two senior leaders. Mr Nath continues to be the face of party leadership while Mr. Singh is tasked with ironing out the creases within the organisation, including reaching out to unsuccessful ticket aspirants and stopping them from becoming rebels.
Turns out, the stakes are personal too for Mr. Singh. “If we win these elections, it will help Digvijaya ji to firmly establish his son [Jaivardhan Singh] among the next generation leaders,” said a functionary of the All India Congress Committee.
