Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 27: Ahead of the Congress Working Committee meeting, senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh, who had earlier openly called for reforms in the party with decentralised functioning, on Saturday stoked a fresh controversy praising the BJP and the RSS organisations appreciating how a grassroots level worker could attain the height of becoming a chief minister and then the prime minister.
The issue was his sharing an old black and white photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the 1990s this morning, he praised the BJP and its ideological parent, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which had been at the target of the Congress over various issues. Singh posted online the Quora screenshot that showed BJP veteran LK Advani attending an event in Gujarat.
“I found this picture on the Quora site. It is very impactful. It shows how an RSS grassroots volunteer and a Jan Sangh/BJP worker, who once sat on the floor at the feet of leaders, went on to become a state’s chief minister and the country’s prime minister. This is the power of organisation,” Digvijaya said in the X post. The undated photograph shows PM Modi, former BJP chief LK Advani, along with several others attending a public rally.
The photo, shared by Singh, is an iconic visual from the 1990s documenting the rise of PM Modi in Gujarat’s politics. It was reportedly clicked during the swearing-in ceremony of former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela in 1996, attended by top BJP leaders of that time.
The Congress leader also tagged Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, Priyanka Gandhi and others in his post. It was seen by the party insiders as an indirect jibe at his own party, which came within a week after he took to X to openly call for reforms and decentralised functioning within the grand-old party.
His post left the Congress red-faced yet again after he not only openly raised the need for reforms within the party, but has also called the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was “not easy” to be convinced.
The remark gave the BJP fresh ammunition to target the Congress leadership, as the grand old party finds itself surrounded by disgruntled leaders from time to time. His public comment did not just leave the party embarrassed but also underlined the urgent need for looking into the concerns of senior leaders, especially with figures like Shashi Tharoor often finding themselves at odds with the party’s functioning.
Singh had last week highlighted the need for decentralisation in the Congress, as he sought reforms in the way the party functions. Tagging Rahul Gandhi in an online post, he even said that he is not someone who can be easily convinced.
“Rahul Gandhi ji, you are absolutely “Bang On” in matters of Socio-Economic Issues. Full Marks. But now please look at @INCIndia also. Like @ECISVEEP needs Reforms, So Does Indian National Congress. You have started with “organisation creation” But we need more Pragmatic Decentralised Functioning. I am sure you would do it because I know you can do it. Only problem is that it is not easy to “Convince” you,” the post read.
After the BJP launched a barrage of attacks on the Congress and Rahul Gandhi based on his post, Singh issued a clarification backtracking his comments. He claimed that he had been “misunderstood” and that he had only praised the organisational powers of the BJP and the RSS even as he remained a strong opponent of the saffron party and Mr Modi.
The BJP targeted Rahul Gandhi over Singh’s tweet with its spokesperson CR Kesavan stating that Singh’s comment has exposed the “autocratic and undemocratic” Congress leadership. “Will Rahul Gandhi show courage & react to the shocking Truth Bomb dropped by Shri. Digvijaya Singh’s tweet which has totally exposed how Congress first family ruthlessly runs the party in a dictatorial manner and also how autocratic & undemocratic this Congress leadership is? (sic)” he said in an X post.
Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Sudhanshu Trivedi invoked former US President Barack Obama, who the BJP MP claimed, “wrote in his book “The Promised Land,” in Chapter 24, wrote ‘Rahul Gandhi has a nervous, uninformed quality about him as if he were a student who has done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher, but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject.”
In its first reaction, sources in the Congress said the party needs to learn from its own past to strengthen its organisation, and not from the RSS and BJP. Singh’s posts come amid challenging times in MP politics. His second Rajya Sabha tenure ends early next year, and a third term appears unlikely. Both Kamal Nath and Meenakshi Natarajan are already in the queue for Rajya Sabha and could be the frontrunners for his seat.
Singh’s remarks have sparked discussions within political circles, with many believing that his concerns are valid and that the Congress must now act, in view of the party’s continuous electoral defeats. While similar concerns have been discussed within the party earlier as well, a senior leader raising it in public indicates the seriousness of the matter.
The senior leader has flagged that after state presidents are appointed, they fail to form committees at the state level, resulting in a lack of decentralisation of power. Moreover, his discomfort could also be due to leaders not aligned with him holding key positions in the party. Both the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari and the leader of the legislative party, Umang Singhar, are all considered to be “anti-Digvijaya” leaders.
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However, many suggest that Singh is not concerned about his own political future—he has served as chief minister for two terms—but that of his son, Jaivardhan Singh, an MLA who has recently been appointed as a district chief in MP.