Rebel trouble awaits Jogi

Beleagured Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi continues to get sleepless nights. Jogi, who is still trying to come to terms with the CBI chargesheet against him, has new trouble in hand, with reports pouring in of veteran tribal Congress leader Arvind Netam planning to leave the party to join the NCP.

A former Union minister, Netam had been feeling sidelined in the Congress for quite sometime. Before Congress president Sonia Gandhi chose to send Jogi to the state to head the government in 2000, Netam had been a strong contender for the post along with the Shukla brothers — V.C. Shukla and Shyama Charan Shukla. And all this while, Netam seems to have been waiting for the right time to strike. And now, with the State Assembly polls just around the corner, Netam has apparently made up his mind to settle scores with Jogi. Sources say that Netam has already held rounds of talks with Shukla and has been waiting for an opportunity to quit the Congress. Netam being a veteran tribal Congress leader, Shukla would be only too glad to welcome him into his party’s fold. There have also been reports about former Madhya Pradesh PCC president and six-time MP Paras Ram Bhardwaj from the Scheduled Caste community working towards mending fences with Shukla.

The Congress has woken up to the new reality and has been trying every means to dissuade Netam from leaving the party. It is learnt that Jogi, before flying to Delhi, himself spoke to Netam over the telephone. Sources close to Netam said that Congress Working Committee member Ahmed Patel also contacted Congress leaders to urge them to stop him from joining the NCP.

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When contacted, Netam said, ‘‘As of now, I am in the Congress. But I can’t say anything about tomorrow.’’ He refused to comment on reports about his plan to join the NCP.

Meanwhile, the NCP, which has proposed to hold a massive rally at Rajnandgaon tomorrow, has charged the Chief Minister with blatant misuse of power to terrorise Congress leaders who refused to toe his line. ‘‘Netam is under tremendous pressure from the Chief Minister and senior AICC leaders. There are several other Congress leaders ready to revolt against Jogi,’’ claims Anil Verma, NCP general secretary.