Bhopal: With the dates of the Madhya Pradesh by-election announced, parties are in a scuffle to put up a good show. At a crucial time like this, the political corridors are echoing the same question over and again that where is the Chanakya of Congress Party, Digvijaya Singh.
Since the entire Congress campaign is revolving around Kamal Nath, Singh is neither seen in meetings nor is he attending any of the events related to the upcoming by-elections.
This is enough fodder to give rise to speculations about the growing distance between Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. In such a situation, one would wonder regarding the role of Digvijaya Singh in the up-coming by-election?
Digvijaya Singh is considered to be an important factor for Congress in the politics of Madhya Pradesh; political experts believe that if the Kamal Nath government has to return to power after falling post-Jyotiraditya Scindia's rebellion, then Digvijaya Singh’s positive role is extremely important.
Talking about the role of Digvijaya Singh in the current by-election, he is rarely seen in public forums. Kamal Nath has been commanding the campaign since day one. He is constantly holding election rallies and meetings.
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When Kamal Nath came to campaign in Gwalior for two days, Digvijaya Singh conspicuously remained absent.
Digvijaya Singh is considered to have a good hold in Malwachal. Yet he remained missing from the election campaign here. Not only this, but his pictures are also missing from publicity hoardings.
Why is Digvijaya Singh being kept away from the by-election campaign?
Digvijaya Singh - Big face in Congress
Digvijay Singh is the person who was in power for ten years in the state. He, at the age of 22, won the election as an independent candidate in Raghaugarh Municipality and became the President.
It was from here that his political journey began, which continues till today.
The pace at which Digvijaya Singh climbed the stairs of power may prove to be tricky for any leader to imagine.
Digvijaya, who became MLA for the first time at the age of 30, became the youngest minister in Arjun Singh's government at the age of just 33 years. He reached the Lok Sabha after winning the elections twice.
In 1993, he became the Chief Minister of the state for the first time and held this position till 2003. He has been elected as a Member of Rajya Sabha twice. At this moment, he has been assigned the responsibility of the General Secretary. That is why it is said that politics and Digvijaya Singh are the two sides of the same coin.
He has an in-depth understanding of politics due to which he is always considered important for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.
Kamal Nath onstage, Digvijaya backstage
Political experts see Digvijaya Singh's absence from the by-election campaign as a political strategy.
Digvijaya Singh was active behind the scenes even in the 2018 assembly elections when the Congress high command assigned him the responsibility of coordination. His pictures were also missing from the hoardings and banners. But he, on the other hand, was instrumental in settling the internal wrath, dissatisfaction and resentment within the party after the ticket distribution.
So this time again, Kamal Nath is seen alone in the lead role. This election will be contested on the basis of 15 months functioning of the Kamal Nath government. But it seems like a deliberate attempt to portray that Kamal Nath has sidelined Digvijaya Singh.
On Digvijaya Singh’s distance from the by-election, BJP spokesperson Rajo Malviya says that Kamal Nath had himself once said that Digvijaya Singh kept him in deception as a result of which his government fell. There has always been this tussle within the Congress party.
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Both Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh are trying to establish their sons respectively in the political arena.
On the issue of Digvijaya Singh’s absence from the scene, Congress spokesperson Abbas Hafeez says that the fruit of Digvijaya Singh‘s toil will be evident in the results of the by-election.
The opinion of political experts on the absence of Digvijaya Singh
With reference to Digvijaya Singh keeping away from the by-election campaign, political analyst Deepak Tiwari says that this by-election is for the position vacated by those 22 MLAs who revolted. This election is sole of Kamal Nath. Hence the election is being fought on the face of Kamal Nath. So there is no need to portray Digvijaya Singh here and Digvijaya Singh is not so naïve that he would be unaware of this strategy.
A large section of people believes that this detachment between Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath is only for people to see.
Digvijaya Singh, from behind the scenes in the 2018 assembly elections, had manned the coordination and electoral strategy. This time also he is in a similar role.
