MADHYA PRADESH

Congress appoints Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya to senior state unit roles

Jyotiraditya Scindia with Kamal Nath Jyotiraditya Scindia campaigning with Kamal Nath | Facebook account of Jyotiraditya M Scindia

The Congress on Thursday appointed senior leader Kamal Nath as president of its Madhya Pradesh unit and Jyotiraditya Scindia as campaign committee chief ahead of elections in the state expected later this year, said a statement from the party.

The party also appointed Girish Chodankar as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief for Goa, replacing Shantaram Naik, who had resigned a few days ago.

"Congress president Rahul Gandhi has cleared the appointment of Kamal Nath as PCC president of Madhya Pradesh and Jyotiraditya Scindia as chairman, campaign committee of the state,"AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot said in a statement.

The party also appointed four working presidents in the Madhya Pradesh state unit—Bala Bachhan, Ramnivas Rawat, Jitu Patwari and Surender Chaudhary.

The appointments come a few months before the state Assembly elections, where the Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP, which has remained in power since 2003.

The chief ministerial candidate has not yet been decided as the choice still seems open with both Nath and Scindia in the race, a party leader said.

The 'division' of powers appears to be an attempt at trying to reduce factionalism in the state in the Congress even as the BJP government of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tries to defend its 15-year record. Earlier this month, two-term Congress chief minister Digvijaya Singh claimed Nath was the best choice for chief minister candidate. Scindia had also asked for projection of a CM candidate.

In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK in March, Scindia said, while the Congress was on a strong wicket against the BJP in Madhya Pradesh this time, the coming elections would be a “do or die” situation.