NK SINGH
A distressed Babulal Gaur, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh,
complained to state assembly in December 2016 that bureaucrats had stopped answering
his calls. Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh rose in his support: “If officials
do not respond to calls of a former chief minister, you can imagine how they
treat common man.”
Gaur was Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan’s predecessor. He is the senior most member of the house. The ten-time
MLA, who was once seen as a threat to Chouhan, has been sulking ever since he
was unceremoniously dropped from cabinet in June 2016 on grounds of old
age.
Till then, he was considered the most powerful minister in cabinet and the
lone voice of dissent. He
apparently wanted to embarrass the government by publicly voicing his plight.
But his whining only succeeded in highlighting the unassailable heights that his
successor, Chouhan, has reached.
Over the past 11 years, a pretty
long period in politics, Chouhan has proved invincible. All rivals and
challengers to throne have either fallen by side or have been eliminated. There is not a single voice of dissent in cabinet.
He is not the first among equals. He is simply unequal. There are cases when ministers’
departments are changed if they don’t get along well with officers considered
close to Chief Minister. Ask Yashodhara Raje Scindia, the sports and youth welfare
minister, who lost her industries portfolio.
After Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, his opponents hoped that Chouhan would meet his nemesis. Had not his
mentor, LK Advani, tried to pit him against Modi, they reasoned.
But Chouhan’s
political clout has, if anything, grown. In the prestigious UP assembly
election only two chief ministers figure in BJP’s list of star campaigners. One
of them is Chouhan. Mind it, the party is in power in 13 States.
Chouhan is the monarch of all that he
surveys. Party presidents and organising secretaries, who are supposed to act
as RSS watchdogs, are content to play second fiddle.
Gone are the days of
Kaptan Singh Solanki, the powerful organising secretary, and Kushabhau Thakre,
the towering party president, whom a chief minister could ignore at his own
peril. BJP national vice president Prabhat Jha was the last party president in
MP who displayed a mind of his own, and paid a price for it.
With all opponents vanquished or shunted
out of MP, there is no challenge to Chouhan’s leadership. No other chief
minister in the history of the State had acquired such unassailable position.
And
remember, many of his predecessors were Big men (one woman), some renowned for
their intellectual prowess, some for vision, some for administrative acumen,
some for charisma, some for saintliness, and yet others for Machiavellian
politics.
Let us take a look at the history of
chief ministers. Iron man DP Mishra lost power when his party men revolted. Govind
Narayan Singh quit after 18 months because of bickering in his coalition
government. Shyama Charan Shukla, chief minister of MP thrice, had to face snapping
by Mishra and opposition from Arjun Singh.
Sethi suffered onslaught from DP Mishra
and Shukla brothers. Kailash Joshi did not have a single day’s peace because of
conspiring party men. VK Sakhlecha remained a target in a splintered Janata Party.
Chouhan’s political guru Sunderlal Patwa spent time warding attacks from Pyarelal
Khandelwal, Kailash Joshi and Sakhlecha.
Arjun Singh had his nemesis in Shukla
brothers and Motilal Vora, who, in turn was never left in peace by the former.
Digvijay Singh faced joint onslaught from Vora and Madhavrao Scindia. Uma
Bharati had to reckon with Patwa and Kailash Joshi. Babulal Gaur had to face Bharati.
When Shivraj Singh Chouhan was made
chief minister in a surprise choice, he lacked Sunderlal Patwa’s stature, Uma Bharati’s
charisma, Kailash Joshi’s respect and Babulal Gaur’s experience.
Initial inning
was tough, with Bharati launching a frontal attack. But he proved to be a
master of real politic, winning election after election, becoming well entrenched
in power.
Look at the current scenario. Kailsh Joshi
is reconciled to his ‘margdarshak
mandal’ status. Bharati is shunted to UP. Guar whines about Chouhan’s secretary
not taking his calls. Kailash Vijaywargiya, the other big challenger, has been packed
off to Delhi as party general secretary.
Lightweights Anup
Mishra and Prabhat Jha have been packed off to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
respectively. Firebrand MP Prahlad Patel, who once left the party to challenge
Shivraj, may cause occasional flutter by his tweets. But
let us wait for the punishment that might come his way for washing dirty linen
in public.
His critics in the ruling party are now
pinning their hopes on the law of gravity. When you reach dizzying heights, the
height itself can be your undoing. Remember Arjun Singh who was packed off as
Punjab governor in 1985 when he seemed almost invincible.
But as Chouhan, the
longest lasting chief minister in the State’s history, told his opponents in
Vidhan Sabha this week: “If I am CM for eleven years, it is not because of
someone’s obligation, I must have done something.”
Touché!
Published in Tehelka of 31 Dec 2016
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