In a significant development, AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik was relieved of his Madhya Pradesh responsibilities. It is said that Wasnik wanted to be relieved of the state in-charge responsibility. However, he continues to be the general secretary of the party.
Now the question is why Wasnik wanted to be relieved of this responsibility. In what is viewed as a rare move, the high command also accepted what Wasnik wanted. Infighting is said to be the reason behind Wasnik’s reluctance to continue as in charge of Madhya Pradesh. This adds to Congress’ headache, as the party is facing similar infighting in almost all the states. Sources say that MP Congress chief Kamal Nath was ignoring Wasnik despite the fact that the latter was in charge of party affairs in the state. So, Wasnik got himself relieved of the state responsibility. The high command seems to have accepted Wasnik‘s wish just because he is the longest serving AICC general secretary. In fact, the situation is such that several powerful leaders in the state do not give any importance to general secretaries. This kind of situation is leading to growing instances of infighting.
There is no denying that Wasnik is an important leader in the Congress. His name had been discussed for the Congress president post in 2019. But as there was no agreement on his name, Sonia Gandhi became interim president. Again, his name is being discussed among the probables for Congress chief’s post. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Mallikarjuna Kharge are also under consideration for the top party post. Rahul Gandhi has to take a final call. However, the entire party wants to see Rahul as Congress president. But the Gandhi scion was reluctant to be at the helm. He has declined to accept the post.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh is witnessing factionalism and infighting for a long time now. The fall of the Kamal Nath government was the result of factionalism. Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is now in BJP, had left the party as a result of infighting. He had major differences with Nath. If the high command had stepped in and resolved the problems in MP timely, the Congress government would not have fallen.
There is nothing wrong if the Gandhi family has given Kamal Nath a free hand in MP. The former CM is bearing expenses of the party activities in MP which he will continue to do till elections. Senior leader Digvijay Singh is also there shoulder to shoulder with Kamal Nath. It is because of the joint efforts being made by Nath and Digvijay that the Congress is hopeful of a come-back in MP. The real fight is said to be between CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Nath as of today. But if the BJP high command changes the leader, then a new analysis will be made on the basis of the new face.
Now the question is what the high command will do if infighting continues in MP and J.P. Agarwal is meted out the same treatment. Agarwal has succeeded Wasnik in MP. Wasnik was working to ensure more rapport between block and district committees. Nath wanted to pursue the political course in his own way. So, the differences continued to grow between Nath and Wasnik.
Similar, infighting exists in the Congress organisation in every state. The grand old party lost Punjab and Uttarakhand due to infighting. Therefore, the high command and the future Congress president will have the challenge to end the infighting. If Congress manages to strengthen its position in states, it will pave the way for its central political goal.