Polls ahead but Chhattisgarh Cong busy with battle within

“Controlling the body is imperative as the committee will have a major say in the distribution of tickets in the next year’s polls and in finalising the election strategy,” a source said.

Party sources say the recent bypolls in Malkhaurda and Khairagarh Assembly seats, which the Congress lost, have gone against Mahant. “Both Mahant and Karma factions are trying hard to regain control and boost the morale of the party cadres by organising state-wide contact programmes, but they have been unable to make a mark so far,” the source said.

The Mahant faction has been trying to bring former party stalwart V C Shukla back into the party fold. Sources said the group hopes to project Shukla as an alternative to Jogi while insisting that it wants to secure the 7 per cent vote that went to the NCP led by Shukla in the 2003 Assembly polls. The attempt to bring back Shukla seems to have the approval of AICC treasurer Moti Lal Vora, another veteran Congress leader from the state.

However, Mahant denied any factionalism or struggle for power in the state unit. “We are waiting for the party high command to finalise the executive committee,” Mahant said.

Jogi too insisted there was no struggle for power as all of them owed allegiance to the party high command. “Mahant is performing as well as he can,” Jogi said, commenting on the status of the present leadership.