Among others former Union Ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh did not attend the executive meeting citing some or other reason. From the day Arun Yadav took over the charge of the state Congress he is not getting cooperation of important leaders of the MP Congress. Even during the bye elections held after his assuming the presidentship he got only lukewarm cooperation from these leaders. Not only at the level of these leaders the party is faction-ridden at the gross-rout levels also. Two important instances of factionalist feud came in the light during last seven to ten days.

Infighting in the Madhya Pradesh Congress surfaced on Gandhi Jayanti day as rebel leader Govind Goyal and his followers put up a pandal near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Bhopal and sang Bhajans to mark the day. When senior Congress leader Suresh Pachauri along with his followers reached the venue, Govind Goyal and his followers put up a pandal. Goyal’s group hardly took notice of their presence. Pachauri however left after paying floral tributes to the statue. According to sources, a heated exchange took place between some Congress leaders and Goyal.

Leader of opposition in Bhopal Municipal Corporation Mohd Sageer objected to Goyal’s programme alleging he (Goyal) did all this to highlight himself whereas it was they who had been fighting against the administration’s decision to remove the statue of Mahatma Gandhi for more than a fortnight. However Goyal did not budge from his place and his programme of bhajan singing continued. Goyal also offered a Gandhi cap to former chief minister Babulal Gaur when he reached there to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

Another instance of factional fight came from Barwani where a 'remove Rahul Gandhi from party' video went viral. A day after, the district Congress unit sent a proposal to PCC chief Arun Yadav to expel district party secretary Shailesh Choubey for six years.

Choubey allegedly spread a self-made 86-second video clip wherein he urged Congress national president Sonia Gandhi to oust party vice-president Rahul Gandhi from the party for his 'Khoon Ki Dalali' statement after the culmination of the latter's month-long Deori-to-Delhi Kisan Yatra in the national capital, saying it had projected the party in a bad light. In that clip, Choubey also urged Sonia to remove Rahul from the vice-president post.

The Congress vice-president's statement came a few days after he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30 for surgical strikes carried out by the Army on launch pads along the Line of Control.

In the beginning, district Congress president Sukhlal Parmar was in a dilemma over this issue for all day as he was not able to contact Yadav. Later, he sent a proposal to Yadav to expel Choubey from the party, saying the party can't tolerate objectionable comments on leaders like Rahul Gandhi.

The PCC chief said the mater came to his knowledge on Monday evening as he was in his native place for Durga Pooja. Leader of Opposition (Congress) in the state assembly Bala Bachchan, on Sunday had said Choubey was a nice leader and suspected that the video might have been doctored and should be examined. However Yadav had a very different view and stated. 'I have confirmed that Choubey himself made the video and he should face the music'.

The Gandhi scion faced backlash in social media after he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other politicians are taking advantage of sacrifices made by army soldiers martyred in Uri terror strikes.

In that clip, Choubey also said Sonia may ask Rahul to look after a business or else Rahul would debase the party at every step. When told, he may face consequences for this move, Choubey said, 'I am a simple worker and have no ambition of grabbing plump posts. Sonia Gandhi is an honorable and transparent leader but Rahul Gandhi has demolished NSUI”

Though the Congress appears to be divided, Jyotiraditya Scindia is touring the state. It is not known whether Scindia is during so on his own or at the instance of the party high command. He is getting good response not only from the party men but also from the general public. But he too is not being spared by a section of the party men.

Recently Dr. Govind Singh, a senior Congress MLA made a highly objectionable remark against Scindia. This evoked angry reaction from his followers in the Congress. Scindia, criticised the BJP government in the state for politicising the September 25 Balaghat incident.

The Madhya Pradesh government suspended an additional superintendent of police, one town inspector and eight other policemen for allegedly thrashing RSS worker Suresh Yadav in Balaghat. The government also transferred an inspector general of police and the superintendent of police

Guna MP Scindia said it was unfortunate that the senior police officers were made scapegoat and were unnecessarily targeted by the government.” It means belittling the morale and confidence of the entire police force”, he told reporters at Shivpuri. He ridiculed the action by home minister Bhupendra Singh saying he should have protected the police force in a situation like this.

Scindia said the action by the home minister was clear manifestation of double standard of the BJP government. “How can there be a separate set of laws for BJP workers and the Sangh parivar, while ordinary people are suffering in the state?” he said. The Congress MP said the law and order situation in Madhya Pradesh had taken a new low amid devaluing the morale of the security forces in the interests of the BJP workers. Scindia also blamed the state government for deteriorating health services including phenomenal deaths of malnourished children.

Three Congress legislators have demanded that disciplinary action be taken against Congress MLA Dr. Govind Singh for his comments against party chief whip in the Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The MLAs — Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Govind Rajput and Tulsiram Silavat — in separate press releases said Singh’s statement issued on social media was highly objectionable. Tomar said Singh should remember that Scindia had won one of the only two seats that the Congress could muster in Madhya Pradesh during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, proving his standing and popularity as a leader not only in the Gwalior-Chambal region but also in the entire state. It is learned that youth Congress leaders Deepak Sharma and Saurabh Solanki have been expelled from the party following their protest against Scindia during his recent visit to Morena.

But whatever his opponents in the Congress may say, Scindia is the most acceptable Congress face by the people. He has a clean image. He was a member of the Manmohan Singh Ministry and during this period nobody could level any charge against him. Moreover he was known as an efficient and hard working minister. By and large ordinary party men feel that next Vidhan Sabha election may be fought under his leadership. But it may be a difficult task to name him as the leader during elections. Digvijay Singh and his supporters may not accept the suggestion of assigning him the task of party leadership. In fact before the 2013 Vidhan Sabha elections, a proposal was made to name him as the Chief Ministerial candidate. In retrospect many observers feel that the Congress could have given better performance under Scindia's leadership.

Though the BJP has initiated efforts to retain power in 2018 assembly poll. but this time it may be difficult task for the BJP. There are lot of complaints against working of the government particularly corruption which is rampant in the administration, has alienated people. In particular the Vyapam scam has given a big set back to the ruling party image. Therefore if the Congress gears-up to meet the challenge of the coming elections, there are fair chances of better performance by the Congress. But for this total elimination of factional rivalry is required which for the present, appears to be a Himalayan task. (IPA Service)