Whispers of discontent in MP Congress

Jyotiraditya Scindia's defeat in Lok Sabha elections continues to hurt his supporters in Madhya Pradesh. While all party members stood by Kamal Nath as chief minister, some members talked about sabotage in Gwalior-Chambal region.

Crash of key leaders in the Lok Sabha elections has thrown up a leadership crisis. Who will now lead the organization in the state? Chief Minister Kamal Nath is also the PCC chief for over a year. The party sidestepped the PCC leadership issue after assembly elections to focus on Lok Sabha elections. But the Scindia camp will not let it pass. The party will struggle to find someone acceptable to all.

Now that the elections are over, there is a fresh demand for Scindia to be made the PCC chief. Party treasurer Govind Goyal has also criticised the chief minister for not sparing enough time for the organisation. Scindia was the campaign manager of the party in the last year's assembly elections. His supporters had last year suggested he was a better face to invest in for the chief ministerial candidate.

There are others who say Kamal Nath has already proved his mettle in the assembly elections. The circumstances were very different in the Lok Sabha elections.

This is the first time in three generations that no member from Scincia family will be a member of the Lok Sabha. Jyotiraditya was humbled by his fan and follower till recent times, K.P. Yadav, with a big difference of 1.2 lakh votes. Pictures of Scindia wiping his tears will remain etched in his supporters' minds.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi's recent remarks obliquely suggesting Kamal Nath, P.C. Chidambaram and Ashok Gehlot's extra care for sons has revived murmurs against the leadership in Madhya Pradesh.

Kamal Nath was quick to scotch the speculation about his possible resignation as PCC chief. The party spokesperson Shobha Ojha said there was no such proposal.

Meanwhile, there are reports of state Assembly speaker N.P. Prajapati's displeasure over pruning of security. This opens up a new front for the chief minister to fight on. There was a reshuffle of the security which did not go down well with the Speaker who referred to the Speaker being better looked after in the neighbouring Chhattsgarh. The government sought to ward off the crisis saying the issue was caused by the model code of conduct for the recent elections.

--IANS

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