In the thick of the political crisis, the Nath government appointed heads of constitutional bodies, including MP Women’s commission, State Backward Classes Commission, SCs Commission, Minority Cell and ST Commission. All these appointments stand cancelled now, stated an official communiqué on Tuesday. A decision on appointment in the State women Commission an MPPSC is likely soon. Congress opposed the cancellation. “I have been appointed chairman of Backward Classes Commission, which is a constitutional post. The government cannot make changes till three years. I will challenge the decision in court,” said senior Congress leader JP Dhanopia.

The Shivraj government also shifted collector of Rajgarh, Nidhi Nivedita to the secretariat as deputy secretary. Nivedita had on January 19 allegedly slapped a BJP leader while trying to manage law and order during a pro-CAA rally in her area. Her deputy Priya Verma, was also allegedly involved in the incident. She is also learnt to have been transferred. Deputy Secretary in the secretariat, Neeraj Kumar Singh has been appointed Rajgarh Collector. The BJP had organised a protest against the incident and alleged high-handedness of the officers in Rajgarh. The party had submitted a memorandum to the Governor demanding action. The Congress government had ordered an enquiry into the incident and the two officers were given clean chit in the case.

Apart from this, the government also shifted municipal Commissioner of Rewa, Sabhajeet Yadav, who had slapped a Rs. 5 crore notice on former BJP minister Rajendra Shukla, a close confident of CM Chouhan for allegedly using defamatory words. Yadav has been appointed additional secretary in the secretariat. CEO District Panchayat Rewa Arpit Verma has been assigned additional charge of the municipal commissioner, said an official release.

Confidence vote winning was a smooth affair for the BJP because Congress decided not to attend the Vidhan Sabha session in which Chouhan sought the confidence vote. After the confidence vote Vidhan Sabha was adjourned. But it will have to re-assemble again to approve budget and some other important matters.

After losing power in the state there is silence of graveyard in the Congress. Barring statement by senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh and AICC incharge Deepak Babaria. Singh in an open letter blamed Jyotiraditiya Scindia for the fall of the Congress government. It may be mentioned here that there is a section of political observers who blame Digvijaya Singh for the factional fight which resulted in fall of the Nath government.

Singh tweeted an open letter for the people of Madhya Pradesh. “Recently Jyotiraditya Scindia defected to BJP causing the fall of Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. I am sad that he joined BJP at a juncture, when its divisive agenda is exposed to all” he said in the open letter.

“It is being said that he had lost hope of a suitable post and honour within the Congress party. But this is untrue. If he indeed wanted to be MPCC president then he could have taken over in 2013 when this post was offered to him. But he preferred to remain union minister” Singh said.

“In 2018 he was offered post of deputy CM but he declined and instead proposed the name of Tulsi Silawat”.

Singh also took on the RSS and said “Today Congress politics is not just about power. It is also about confronting Sangh ideology. These two ideologies visualise India differently. The future of India now depends on the victory of one of these ideologies. That is why the loss of Congress government has pained not just Congress workers but all the common citizens also, who are struggling against the hegemony of RSS philosophy” the Congress leader wrote.

Deepak Babaria in the course of an interview while analysing the causes of fall of Congress government said: “I think the biggest reason is BJP’s relentless attempts to bring down state governments of rival parties. They pump in crores of rupees and human being are prone to inducements. Our big leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and rebel MLAs put their self-interest above people’s interests. Scindia had a prominent place in Congress but his ambition to be the CM proved very strong. He was offered deputy CM’s post, also promised Rajya Sabha seat and assured he could be made state Congress president later. But he lost patience and could not see himself living without power”.

He further said: “People voted Congress to power with high hopes and if MP Congress leadership had started on the right note…we started from day one in the wrong direction. The workers and people had expectations but we failed to establish communication with them or gain their trust. To fight BJP and its massive allurement you need confidence of people (to keep MLAs in check). BJP succeeded in exploiting the hunger of power of our leaders and spent Rs. 1,000 crore to bring down the state government.”

He was further asked about the impression that as the AICC in-charge his writ did not run in the state Congress. He replied “As a representative of the high command, I tried to establish dialogue and consensus for decision-making. But I could not convince the state leadership to adopt this healthy practice. I am a small worker but with 45-years of experience I am among those few Congressmen who understand organisaion. I tried to bring all leaders together. I told them, as did Rahul Gandhi, that they should not impose their choice but ask workers what they want. But our three leaders - Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh and Scindia - were not ready to change. They had such strong perceptions that they could not easily accept advise from others. It is difficult to mould the thinking or change the working style of someone after a certain age. Even the biggest Congress leaders cannot change them”. (IPA Service)