Digvijay Singh’s accusations on Mayawati has done more harm than achievement to Congress Party’s non BJP unity efforts

The former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, the general secretary of All India Congress Committee during Sonia Gandhi’s tenure and the trouble shooter of the veteran Congress leader, Punjab Governor n union minister late Arjun Singh n one time Rahul Gandhi’s favourite Digvijay Singh had always been in the news for his eloquent speeches, minority appeasement and a hard core secularist including issuing controverial statements from time to time, especially during the tenure of Dr. Manmohan Singh as the prime minister.

His earlier statements like addressing the hard core international terrorist Osama Bin Laden as Osamaji and always standing on the side of the minorities has raised tremendous controversies in Congress party during the last few years contributing to an extent in the party’s defeat at the hustings in 2014 though corruption was also an important issue capitalised by the BJP to stage its historic victory.

Digvijay Singh was also in the news for his love story at the age of 67 which later transformed in an arraged marriage with a divorced journalist. Belonging to a princely family of Madhya Pradesh Digviijay Singh had a chequred political carreer from party president of the state to the CM of Madhya Pradesh to party’s national general secretary while being the ears and eyes of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

These days he was given the responsibility in managing the Congress campaign and political patchbup with the like minded parties in the state alongwith former union minister and Congress heavy weight at the centre and in Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath and the former youthful minister and Royal family prince of Gwalior Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The Congress president Rahul Gandhi has entrusted all the three leaders with the responsibility to manage the possible seat sharing with the BSP n arranging political meetings in the state to ensure the party’s resounding victory. Nehru Gandhi scion is extremely hopeful of returning to power this time in Madhya Pradesh provided the Congress party contests the election with the pre poll arrangements with the BSP in order to capitalise on the anti incumbency factor in the state ruled by the saffron party for two terms in succession and avoiding the division of votes by patching up with the BSP.

Rahul Gandhi had done a lot of ground work in this context by keeping the BSP supremo in quite a confidence particularly after the formation of the JD(S) Congress alliance government in Karnataka and after the victory of the joint non BJP opposition candidates in Phulpur, Kairana and Sitapur.

The talks between Congress and BSP were almost successful in Madhya Pradesh with Congress giving the BSP 25 seats out of fifty being demanded by the Mayawati.

If the Digvijay Singh Bombshell had not fallen, things were going in quite a right direction say sources as Mayawati could have agreed on 30 to 32 seats out of fifty and both the Congress and BSP arrangement would have defeated the BJP in the state already under the grip of the anti incumbency factor.

But all of a sudden all hell broke when the controvertial Congress leader and infamous for his straight forward statements and outspoken ness Digvijay Singh dropped a bomshell directly accusing BSP supremo for not fructifying the Congress BSP patch up under the saffron party’s pressure as she is apprehensive of being hounded by the ruling political dispensation for her cases of corruption in the near future through the CBI and ED agencies.

This angered and badly annoyed the BSP supremo Mayawati who held a special press conference two days ago and not only labelled Digvijay Singh as a greedy n power hungry leader working as a BJP stooge but also declared of severing ties with the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh n Rajasthan where it will fight the elections on all the seats independently except alliances with regional parties in MP and Chattisgarh.

This action and anti Congress statements of Mayawati has led to a huge jolt for the Congress party in all these three states where the votes of the SC, ST is in sizeable number which may deflect from the Congress party’s influence amounting to an unambiguous division of votes.

This annoyance and disenchantment of Mayawati will also put an adverse impact during the general elections of 2019 particularly in Uttar Pradesh where speculation about the pre poll seat sharing between BSP, SP n Rashtriya Lok Dal is already underway with the Congress party having a negligible say.

Uttar Pradesh brings the largest number of 80 MPs to the lok Sabha followed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan etc. The desperate statement of Digvijay Singh which has amounted to the breakup in relations with the BSP despite Congress’s former Chief Sonia Gandhi and the present chief Rahul Gandhi’s best efforts to keep the BSP supremo in good humour would harm the Congress party to a great extent say the political analysts.

Some Congressmen, on the condition of keeping their names secret have revealed that two leaders in the Congress party viz Mani Shankar Aiyyer and Digvijay Singh had done more harm to the party prospects than proving themselves as an asset despite being so close to the party high command and having been given all the importance, always. What’s your take friends?