Jogi plays Shukla tricks, PCC chief least impressed

PCC chief Motilal Vora is now preparing a blueprint for the party’s revival in the state and to counter the threat posed by Jogi. Last week, he toured Bastar and Dantewara districts with Shyama Charan Shukla and CWC member and Chhattisgarh in-charge Ashok Gehlot. If Vora’s plans are to be believed, party chief Sonia Gandhi will begin a roadshow by this month-end to strike a chord with the people, especially the Adivasis.

Vora is not in favour of making Jogi a part of his campaign strategy for the Lok Sabha polls. But Jogi knows that barring his proximity to Sonia Gandhi, Vora can hardly keep him out of the action. His strategy is not different from that of Shukla, who first held kisan rallies and quit the party affecting its poll prospects. Jogi’s support base among Satnamis — a powerful caste lobby in the state and among OBCs — is well-known. And it’s through this section of the Congress votebank that the former CM wants to play hardball.

After his Bastar tour, Vora says he was not aware of Jogi’s parallel rallies and doesn’t think it appropriate to react to reports on Jogi’s tour.

So far, Jogi has not indicated his plans to quit the Congress. His supporters claim that the new PCC trio — Vora, S.C. Shukla and PCC working president Charan Dass Mohant — had misled Sonia.