Infighting has taken centre stage among leaders of the newly formed Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. The party has plunged into a conflict situation among top leaders even before its cabinet completes its first week in office. The top three leaders in the state Congress—Chief Minister Kamal Nath, election campaign chief Jyotiraditya Scindia and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh—are locked in a tussle over power-sharing.
After the election results were declared on December 11, it took the Congress days to decide its chief minister and more than a week to finalise its cabinet. The exceptional delay was owing to the tussle between the factions of Kamal Nath, Scindia and Digvijaya in cornering the maximum share of portfolios for their supporters.
Kamal Nath, who was state Congress chief, took oath as chief minister on December 17 while his 28-member cabinet was sworn in on December 25, a week later. Interestingly, the departments of the ministers have not been announced at the time this story was published.
The composition of the 28-member cabinet was formalised after four days of deliberations by top leaders in Delhi in the presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Out of the 28 ministers, the major share of appointments went to the Digvijaya faction, followed by the factions of Kamal Nath and Scindia. All the 28 ministers were sworn in as cabinet-rank ministers.
However, the infighting did not stop with the announcement of names of ministers, as many ministers are now pressuring Kamal Nath to get the portfolio of their choice. Similarly, Digvijaya and Scindia also want their supporters to get 'plum' departments.
Sources said Scindia wanted his supporters to be given prominent departments like home and transport, while Digvijaya wanted his son, Jaivardhan, to be made the finance minister. The allocation of cabinet departments has became such a controversial issue that Kamal Nath held two cabinet meetings without the ministers knowing which department they were supposed to look after.
Most members of the Kamal Nath cabinet are relatively young, two-term MLAs. Out of 28 appointees, 21 are ministers for the first time. Some of the young ministers like Jitu Patwari are openly speaking about their 'preferred' department. Patwari has been heard saying that he comes from the “quota” of Rahul Gandhi and the new chief minister will have to listen to him. Patwari wants the public relations department.
While ministers are pressuring Kamal Nath for their favourite departments, a new Congress MLA is also flexing his muscles. Dr Hira Alawa, the chief of JAYAS—a tribal organisation—who contested on a Congress ticket, said that he has been cheated by Kamal Nath. Alawa said he was promised a ministerial berth when he joined the Congress. Alawa declared that he would meet Rahul Gandhi and complain about the whole issue.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav too is not very happy about the only MLA from his party—who has pledged support for the Congress—not being considered for a cabinet post. In a statement on Wednesday, Yadav said, “Thank you, Congress for not taking my MLA as minister; we now have the option of Uttar Pradesh.”
With several factions inside Congress asking for their share and the MLAs supporting from outside too on a 'blackmailing' path, Chief Minister Kamal Nath faces a tough balancing act with the first session of the state assembly to begin on January 7.
