Congress gives distant roles to Madhya Pradesh rebels

The Congress has found an innovative way to keep rebels in check in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh – give them important election and campaign duties away from constituencies where they sought tickets from.
Since the last day of withdrawal of nominations on November 14, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath has made at least 80 such appointments across the state, according to party members.

“It is like winning back a sulking child,” said a senior Congress leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “By giving them campaign duties, we have made them feel a part of the election and given them the importance they were looking for. At the same time they have been made responsible for a constituency, so they cannot even indulge in anti-party activities.”

The party observers in every district have been asked to ensure there are no disgruntled rebels without any election duties. Nath’s office has dispatched all letters on party stationery saying that the leaders are being rewarded for their “leadership qualities” and entrusted with the job of heading the campaign.

Saurabh Sharma, for instance, was the most favoured candidate from an urban seat in Jabalpur. The young leader had started a campaign against inflated electricity bills quite similar to that portrayed in newly released Hindi flick Batti Gul Meter Chalu. He had opened two phone helplines to help people report malfunctioning meters. Sharma filed numerous applications under the Right to Information Act to find out about electricity meters and the private company which was involved in bill collection.

However, what worked against him was the criminal cases slapped against him by the government during this campaign. Although the party rejected his ticket, it made him general secretary of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee and he is now active in campaign across eight assembly segments in Jabalpur district.

Some of the newly appointed campaign in-charges include Sehore district Congress general secretary Mohammad Rashid, working president of Dhar district Hitsh Thakur and Mona Gaurav.

Nonetheless, there are nine Congress rebels still in the fray. Rajya Sabha member Satyavrat Chaturvedi’s son Nitin is contesting on Samajwadi Party ticket from Rajnagar assembly constituency in Chhattarpur district. Anurag Hazare is also contesting as an SP candidate from Pathariya while Pradeep Khateek is doing so as independent from Hata, Bhuvan Vikram Singh as independent from Pawai and Aditya Solomon as independent from Jabera. Mahesh Patel is contesting from Maihar as Gondwana Gantantra Party candidate, BL Sarkhare as AAP candidate from Mandla, Rajesh Mahato from Maharajpur on BSP ticket and Akhilesh Dubey on SP ticket from Sagar.