Cong polls -- MP leaders try placing own men in key posts

Cong polls -- MP leaders try placing own men in key posts
SANJIV SINHA

NEW DELHI, SEPT 19: If there is one state which mirrors the problems in the Congress's coming organisational polls, it is Madhya Pradesh, where a battle royale is on among party stalwarts to position their men in the key posts of District Returning Officers (DROs) and Block Returning Officers (BROs).

The heavyweights include state Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, his arch-rival Kamal Nath, and senior leaders Madhavrao Scindia, Arjun Singh, Motilal Vora and Ajit Jogi. All of them hail from the state, have their own spheres of influence and as such, have a vested interest in getting their men in.

The issue at stake, say party sources, is obviously larger than a mundane struggle for junior-level party posts. It is about Digvijay's survival in a state, which has enough stalwarts for him to contend with. It is also about Kamal Nath throwing up a fair challenge to him in the state, the need for Arjun Singh to stay afloat and Scindia to command enough support to strengthen his position at the Centre.

Leading the battle is state Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, who obviously wants to have his way in the selection of DROs and BROs to ensure that his supporters get the maximum number of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates. Singh has been visiting Delhi frequently to ensure that no upsets take place and he spent most of Saturday in the Capital closeted with AICC general secretary in-charge of the state, Prabha Rau, to finalise the list of BROs. And to up the ante on his rivals, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has also contended that the party MLAs should be given the BROs falling in their constituencies, a deft move since the majority of the MLAs owe allegiance to him.

The importance of BROs is apparent from the fact that each block sends one PCC delegate. And it is the PCC delegates, who not only directly vote for the Congress president but also elect AICC delegates. Whoever has the maximum number of BROs under his belt will have the maximum number of PCC delegates under his command.

Although the list of BROs is yet to be made official, party sources here assert that Singh has managed to corner a majority of them. Large districts (which, due to their size, have larger number of blocks) are reported to be cornered by his men: Sarguja (19), Raipur (rural) (15), Bastar (15), Bhopal city (11), Jhabua (12), to name a few.

Ranged against Singh is arch-rival Kamal Nath, who has been keeping a close tab on the selection of BROs to ensure the balance is maintained. Singh's trapeze walk also involves taking care of the interests of senior leaders such as Scindia, Arjun and Vora, who he can ill-afford to alienate but at the same time, would love to curb in terms of influence.

Not that these leaders are mute spectators to Singh walking away with the lion's share -- Singh has been careful not to disturb their areas of influence. But he is obviously hoping to benefit from the fact that these senior leaders don't see eye to eye vis-a-vis him, have their own internal rivalries and their areas of influence are mostly limited to their constituencies. Ironically, the much-hyped Central Election Authority has had little to do with this exercise.