There is no fear of high command left among legislators and ministers in the two states.
With the high command continuing to be weak, the Congress may have to pay a heavy price in the assembly elections due to be held next year in important states like Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The situation has come to such a pass that Congress MLAs and Ministers are seen making one statement or the other against their own governments in these states.
With Congress leaders not fearing high command anymore, they are busy settling scores with one another instead of publicising the decisions of their party governments.
The CMs keep mollifying one leader or the other. Senior Congress leader T.S. Singh Deo and former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot are embarrassing their own party governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan respectively by making controversial statements. While there were no attempts to topple the government in Chhattisgarh, Sachin Pilot and his supporters tried to dislodge the government in Rajasthan two years ago. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot could somehow manage to save his government. After this, the high command removed Pilot from the posts of PCC president and Dy CM. Congress had accused the BJP of being behind the move to topple the government, for which the party also provided some “audio” proof. The example of MP was already there, where the Congress government fell due allegedly to BJP’s political operation.
In Rajasthan, Gehlot managed to keep his flock together despite all alleged poaching efforts during Rajya Sabha and Presidential polls. However, the problem is not yet over. According to sources, over three dozen MLAs in Chhattisgarh are on the ED radar. The Congress-supported government in Jharkhand may have the same fate as in Maharashtra. Some MLAs and Ministers are creating troubles in Rajasthan, with many of them facing serious allegations of corruption.
What bothers Gehlot is that the high command is not able to deal with the problems. The high command made a big mistake by not taking strong action against those behind the conspiracy to topple the government in Rajasthan. Despite having all evidence, the Gandhi family remained flexible with them, leading to the division of the party into two factions. Sachin Pilot and his supporters have not changed their attitude even now. Many of these leaders share misleading information with the media to create confusion. None of them apologised for what they did two years ago. The impression is created that they have the backing of either Priyanka Gandhi Vadra or Rahul Gandhi.
The high command is finding it difficult to take a concrete step to sort out the things in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. This is happening even though the two states will go to the polls next year, and Congress is continuously losing elections. Assembly elections will be held in big states like Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and MP before the 2024 parliamentary polls. But Congress is still not on the right path. As a result, the BJP is benefiting from all this. If the grand old party does mend its ways, BJP’s ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ slogan may be a reality.
The high command should take strong action against the leaders who are working against the party. Tough action will be a strong message for all. If Congress› high command still fails to act, then the party may have to see the outcome like UP. AAP and Owaisi will spare no effort to make their presence felt, which will damage Congress immensely.