BJP fields ex-CM Patwa in Kamal Nath's citadel

The sudden decision by the Bharatiya Janata Party to field 72-year-old party strongman and former chief minister Sunderlal Patwa against Congress nominee and former federal minister Kamal Nath has added new flavour to the February 6 Lok Sabha byelection in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh.

The bypoll was necessitated following resignation of Kamal Nath's wife Alka Nath from the seat last month.

It now appears that personal prestige of the two veteran leaders is what is more at stake than that of their respective political parties, as a number of factors, including rising factionalism in both the camps, interplay to make the electoral battle the centre of attention in the arena of national politics.

On the one hand, 50-year-old Kamal Nath has never tasted defeat. This will be the fifth Lok Sabha election and probably a redemption as he was not given a ticket in the last year's general elections for being named in the Jain hawala case.

On the other hand, for Patwa it would be his first parliamentary election since he was elected to the Vidhan Sabha in 1957 and twice occupied the seat of the chief minister. During his four-decade-long career, he changed his constituency four times and lost twice -- in 1967 and 1972 from the Manasa assembly seat in Mandsaur district.

It may be recalled that Chhindwara was the only constituency which returned the Congress candidate to the Lok Sabha in 1977 despite the entire state being swept by the Janata Party in the wake of the anti-Emergency wave.

From 1980 to 1991, Kamal Nath represented Chhindwara. However, on being denied party ticket last year, his wife, Alka Nath, won the seat instead.

According to political observers in Bhopal, Kamal Nath, who was apparently annoyed for being neglected by the then Congress president P V Narasimha Rao, is now preparing new ground under the leadership of new party chief Sitaram Kesri and viewed from this angle, the February 6 byelection is also an issue of personal prestige. If the United Front government at the Centre falls and the Congress returns to power, Nath could again find a berth in the central cabinet after winning from Chhindwara, observers opine.

The bypoll is politically important also for Chief Minister Digvijay Singh in the wake of the changing equations after the readmission of former ministers Madhavrao Scindia and Arjun Singh into the Congress fold as Kamal Nath had been supported Digvijay Singh in times of crises. The observers say Digvijay Singh will gain much weight in the party circle if Congress won the seat as members of his cabinet were being implicated in various corruption charges. Therefore, Digvijay Singh would make all possible efforts to help Kamal Nath register a victory.

For the BJP, which trailed the Congress in the last year's assembly byelections, the February 6 fight would form the basis for the next Vidhan Sabha polls to be held two years from now and observers say that is why, contrary to all earlier speculations, it had fielded Patwa there.

Since Patwa was a top BJP leader in state politics, the February 6 byelection was a prestige issue for him as well. Although he was a member of the Vidhan Sabha and despite adverse results in Chhindwara, he would continue to be an MLA, the results could also affect his political future.

Political observers here also say that the intra-party in the BJP and the Congress could also influence the results of the bypoll.

In the Congress, an indication of such a situation and come to the fore even before the announcements of Kamal Nath's candidature when the Congress tribal member of Parliament from Jhabua, Dilip Singh Bhuria, demanded that a leader from the minority community be fielded in Chhindwara. Although the party high command did not pay any heed to Bhuria's demand, it is being assumed that an important role could be played in Chhindwara by him as well as another tribal MP, Ajit Jogi, and former minister Aslam Sher Khan.

On the other hand, Arjun Singh, who was distanced from Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath during his separation from the party, could also play a significant role, observers say.

There is also a view in the political circles here that a group of Congress men could do some behind-the-scene manipulation, in the guise of a regional outfit, Gondwana Gantantra Party with support from a sizeable number of tribal voters. In last year's assembly byelections, GGP's Hira Singh Markam had registered a surprise victory in the Tankhar assembly constituency in Bilaspur district, allegedly with assistance from some Congress leaders.

Perhaps, aware of all these factors, Kamal Nath has not only chalked out his poll strategy accordingly but also selected those who will be associated in his election campaigning. Party sources said each development block in the constituency will be looked after by a minister, and Panchayat Minister Harvansh Singh, Nath's traditional election manager, will be the overall incharge this time also.

As far as the BJP is concerned, Patwa's candidature itself was being viewed in the light of intra-party factionalism by some political observers who opined that amid the game of the oneupmanship within the state unit, the rival group had trapped Patwa in a piquant situation. If he wins, he would be out of state politics to join national politics, and if he loses, he would not retain his present clout within the party.

Party sources said Patwa could be persuaded for candidature with much difficulty. When reporters asked him whether his consent had been taken, he merely said he had never taken such a decision at his own level in his entire political career. Also apparently happy are state BJP chief Dr Laxmi Narayan Pandey and former chief minister Kailash Joshi, who described Patwa as a very powerful candidature.

The BJP has asked most of its MLAs to reach Chhindwara after January 26. Besides, a number of BJP national leaders were also likely to land up there, adding colour to the campaign, observers said.

UNI