While the Congress has still not been able to figure out why it could not capture power in the November 2008 assembly elections in the state, the BJP is yet to recover from the shock of losing 8 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Congress, which could win only 4 seats in the 2004 General elections, managed to increase its tally to 12 in this year's elections.

The BJP is so much worried over its losses in the Lok Sabha polls that it is seeking the help of the RSS to analyse the causes of its dismal performance. And how much importance the RSS gives to the state is evident from the fact that the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat himself camped at Bhopal for three days. Mr. Bhagwat came to Bhopal on the pretext of participating in a “Chintan shivir” of the “Kisan Sangh”—a RSS affiliate. He gave a call to the “Kisan Sangh” to adopt one village in every state and develop it as a model village. The RSS supremo held a luncheon meeting with a select group of top state BJP leaders. He had a prolonged dialogue with the group, which comprised important leaders both from the government as well as the organisation. Besides the chief minister Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, among the ministers who attended included Kailash Vijayvargiya, Jayant Malaiya, Gaurishankar Bisen, Ram Krishna Kusumaria, Karan Singh Verma and Gopal Bhargava. From the organisation side, Makhan Singh, organisational secretary, Anil Dave, Vice President and Bhagwat Sharan Mathur, Joint organisational secretary attended.

The main problem, which was discussed at the meet, was the growing factionalism and indiscipline in the party. The party leaders have raised the problems of indiscipline and factionalism on other fora as well. Former minister Mr. Himmat Kothari, whose ideal conduct as a minister in the last tenure of the government had impressed even his critics, vociferously alleged that the party leadership had not taken care to punish those who had openly sabotaged the electoral effort of the its candidates in the Lok Sabha polls.

Besides Mr. Bhagwat, several other RSS leaders also visited Bhopal to feel the pulse of the party rank and file. Sah Sar Karyavahak Suresh Soni came to Bhopal and proceeded to Chitrakoot to meet veteran RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh. A number of BJP leaders were also dispatched to Bhopal by the party's national leadership to evaluate the condition of the state unit. The latest visitors in the series were Mr. Gopinath Munde from Maharashtra and Mr. Kalraj Mishra from Uttar Pradesh.

During their visit to Bhopal, the two leaders had one-to-one meeting with the party candidates in all the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies — whether defeated or victorious — the in charge of election campaigning and Presidents of district units. The defeated candidates are reported to have cast serious allegations during their meeting with the observers. Nine-time winner Mr. LN Pande — who lost from Mandsaur at the hands of Ms. Meenakshi Natarajan, a political greenhorn and member of Rahul Gandhi Brigade — wanted to know how Ms. Natarajan managed to win despite the fact that she was not getting co-operation from the Congressmen of the area. The case of Mr. Premchand Guddu of the Congress, who defeated party veteran Mr. Satyanarain Jatia in Ujjain, was also raised prominently. Mr. Guddu had lost the assembly polls held barely five months earlier but could vanquish Mr. Jatia, who was a member of the Atal Behari Vajpayee ministry. What explains this miracle of a Congress loser in assembly polls emerging victorious in Lok Sabha elections, the party leaders wanted to know from the observers.

The observers were told that complacency, induced by the victory in the assembly polls, planned sabotage by intra-party rivals and indifference of the grassroots workers were some of the causes for the setback suffered by the BJP. The observers will submit their report at the “Chintan Shivir” proposed to be held at Mumbai. The BJP is keen that the shortcomings in the party machinery should be eliminated before the Local bodies' elections in the state, due in December this year.

The Congress leadership too is worried by the state of affairs in the party. A series of meetings have been held to post-mortem the debacle in the assembly polls. Since MP came into being in 1956, the Congress has never been out of power for two consecutive terms. The Congress lost power in the state for the first time in 1967 because of massive defections of party legislators but was back in power in 1969. Again, it lost power in 1977 in the wake of the anti-emergency wave but was back in the saddle in 1980. The third time the Congress had to sit in the opposition was in 1990. Again, a mid-term poll in 1993 enabled it form the government. The elected BJP government was dismissed following the riots in the wake of demolition of the Babri Masjid. The riots had claimed more than 150 lives.

In 1993 assembly elections, the BJP snatched power from the Congress. Ms. Uma Bharati was made the chief minister. Her whimsical temperament and her adeptness in making enemies within the party had created an impression that the BJP government may fall midway. However, it was Ms. Bharati who fell from power and was replaced by Mr. Babulal Gaur. Mr. Gaur too was ousted and Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan was sworn in as chief minister in November 2005. It was under his stewardship that for the first time, a BJP government in MP could complete its term. Elections were called in November 2008 and observers, including a powerful section of the BJP, thought that the Congress was all set to ride back to power.

However, Mr. Suresh Pachauri, who was appointed state Congress chief just on the eve of the elections proved to be an ineffective organiser. Mr. Pachauri—on the other hand-complained of non-cooperation from other state leaders. The Congress lost the elections and the BJP—again for the first time in the history in the state-was back in power for a second consecutive term.

In the Lok Sabha elections, though, the Congress could better its tally, Pachauri has been holding a series of meetings to feel the pulse of the party men. The opinions expressed in these meetings give a clear-cut impression that all is not well in the party. A meeting of District Congress Presidents was marred by allegations and counter-allegations. Many DCC chiefs complained that the party took cognizance of their existence only at the time of elections. All top leaders were busy building their independent identities. Even the Block party presidents, the DCC chiefs alleged, did not respond to their instructions and circulars. Similarly, they complained, the office bearers of frontal organisations like Youth Congress, Women's Congress and NSUI did not care to inform them about their activities. This affected their image in the eyes of the party workers.

But whatever may be the odds, the Congress will have to close its ranks if it wants to put up a decent show in the elections to municipal Corporations, committees and nagar panchayats. (IPA)