Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who has entered the fifth year in office, is a much stronger man now compared to what he was when he took over the reins of the state in December 2003. After successfully marginalising many senior tribal leaders of the ruling BJP and other heavyweights of the state politics, Raman Singh is all set for a one-man show ahead of the next Assembly elections.
Being a tribal dominated state, the BJP in the region had many strong tribal leaders in its kitty. Even now, of the 52 BJP legislators in the 90-member state Assembly, an overwhelming 25 members belong to this reserved category. But the marginalisation of tribal leaders began during the first Assembly election itself, when Raman Singh was the president of the state BJP. The senior-most tribal leader in the party, Nand Kumar Sai, who was also the Leader of Opposition, was asked to contest against the then Chief Minister Ajit Jogi. Sai, who had earlier served as BJP president of undivided Madhya Pradesh, lost to Jogi in the polls.
Later, another tribal leader, Shiv Pratap Singh, was unceremoniously removed from the post of state BJP chief after he publicly criticised Raman Singh Government’s style of functioning. Yet another tribal leader, Nanki Ram Kanwar, was removed from the council of ministers during the last reshuffle and was replaced with a junior tribal leader, Satyanand Rathiya.
Next in the line of fire was Amar Agarwal, son of BJP heavyweight Lakhi Ram Agrawal. After the party’s humiliating defeat in the Kota Assembly bypoll where Ajit Jogi’s wife Renu won, the party leadership reportedly sought to fix the responsibility on Amar. After forcing him to resign as Finance Minister, Raman Singh kept him in waiting for over nine months before being reaccommodated in the Cabinet.
A similar attempt is now on to sideline one of the senior-most ministers in the Cabinet, Brij Mohan Agrawal. According to sources, the Chief Minister has decided to directly look into the day-to-day affairs of the departments allocated to Agrawal. “Officials believed to be close to the Chief Minister have been appointed in Revenue, Tourism and Forest departments headed by Agrawal,” they said.
On the other hand, the Chief Minister has the last say in the organisation too, as the party is now headed by a political lightweight, Vishnudeo Sai.
Even the Opposition believes that the Chief Minister has been systematically targeting his rivals in the state.
According to former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, though every political party is plagued by internal politics, the situation is a bit different in BJP. “Never before has such a conscious effort been made to eliminate the second rung leadership,” says Jogi.
The Government has also come under severe criticism from some human rights groups for the harsh treatment meted out to those opposing Salwa Judum, an anti-Naxalite movement in the Bastar region. The state president of People’s Union of Civil Liberties, Rajendra K Sail, said the Government’s “undemocratic face” had been revealed after Binayak Sen, a human rights activist, was imprisoned. “By putting its most vocal critic in jail under the provisions of a draconian law, the Government has exposed itself,” he said.
However, refuting all allegations levelled by his opponents, Raman Singh said the BJP is a party where no distinction is made on the lines of caste, creed or religion. “An individual doesn’t matter as decisions on party matters are taken collectively,” he says.