Digvijay Singh to quit party posts

Is his Narmada yatra political pilgrimage or spiritual journey?

NK SINGH

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh wants to be relieved of all organisational responsibilities. He has already written a letter about it to his bosses, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her deputy, Rahul Gandhi. Translated in plain English, he has quit party posts and is, at present, serving notice period. Singh is also a member of the powerful Congress Working Committee and is on several important committees of the party. According to party sources, the Congress high command has accepted his resignation and indicated that he will be shortly divested of his position and responsibilities in the organisation.

Singh, 70, had asked for sabbatical to go on a six month pilgrimage, walking the 2,600 km long banks of Narmada. The traditional Narmada parikrama (circumambulation of the holy river) starts from its source at Amarkantak hills in MP to the river’s mouth at Bharuch in Gujarat, where it drains into Arabian Sea. The return journey ritually traverses through the northern bank of the river.

Is it political sanyas for the man, who ruled MP for 10 years, keeping all his detractors, within and outside the party, at bay? That included the tumultuous period when giants like Arjun Singh and Madhavrao Scindia had quit Congress and jointly challenged him, only to fail miserably. Is he finally retiring, having made a room for his heir apparent, Jaivardhan Singh, the Congress MLA from the family seat of Raghogarh? Or, the foot march along Narmada banks, as many would like to believe, is a political pilgrimage? Is Singh stooping to conquer?

The street-smart politician is known to take weirder decisions. In 2003, following Congress defeat at hustings, he had taken a self-imposed exile from electoral politics for 10 years.

Let us examine the facts.

Digvijay Singh is a devout Hindu. Munnu, Digvijay’s pet name, was highly influenced by his extremely religious mother. “She would start singing bhajans in the family palace in the early hours of morning,” recalls a relative. As chief minister he never missed a chance to observe ritualistic fasts or visit temples, once even taking his entire cabinet for 23-km-long foot march along holy Govardhan hill in UP.

Singh claims that Narmada march is a spiritual and religious pilgrimage for him. “He had been advised by his guru to undertake this yatra but could not do it because of his preoccupation with political engagements,” says a top Congress leader from MP.

But there are other facts which suggest that a political agenda could be behind the pilgrimage.

Singh’s proposed march is scheduled to commence on Dussehra, September 30. The political speculation surrounding it is natural, coming as it does close on the heels of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s grandiose, 145-day high profile campaign to save the river. Political commentators had hailed Chouhan’s Narmada Seva Yatra as a publicity blitz aimed at garnering votes for BJP at State expense.

A comparison is inevitable.

The route Singh will march includes 110 assembly segments of MP and 20 segments in Gujarat. Singh will be actually travelling through Gujarat, which goes to polls this December, when electioneering will be at its peak. MP goes to polls by December next year. A Congress leader from Narmada belt confides that the former chief minister has contacted grass-root Congress workers in the region in connection with his march.

Analysts feel that the pilgrimage may be an instrument to revive Digvijay Singh’s sagging political fortunes. The man who had emerged as Rahul Gandhi’s main political advisor a few years ago, is a star on descent ever since Congress lost a hard-earned mandate in Goa earlier this year. Although it was the single largest party and needed support of only four more MLAs to form government, it was trumped by BJP which needed support of eight legislators.

Fuming Congress MLAs had blamed Singh, general secretary incharge of Goa, for messing up mandate. Soon he was removed from responsibilities of Goa. The high command also took back Karnataka, which goes to poll next year, from his charge. Earlier this month, the high command removed him from Telangana. Now only Andhra Pradesh is left with him.

Long marches on foot have done wonders for some leaders in MP in the past. The most memorable one was that of DP Mishra, who had marched from Sagar to Bhopal in the late 60s to challenge the Samyukt Vidhayak Dal Government of GN Singh. By the time he reached Bhopal, the government was out.

Sunderlal Patwa had marched from Bastar (it was part of unified MP then) to Jhabua, helping BJP capture power in 1990. “The foot march,” recalled Chouhan in a blog, “took his popularity to new heights. He used to sing and recite poems during his march.” Will Digvijay’s Long March help him?

My column 'Powers That Be' in DB Post of 13 August 2017 

(Email: nksexpress@gmail.com. Tweets @nksexpress)