Royal Mess

The saffron brigade fondly refers to him as Chhattisgarh8217;s Narendra Modi. And much like the Gujarat CM8217;s Gaurav Yatra, Dilip Singh...

The saffron brigade fondly refers to him as Chhattisgarh8217;s Narendra Modi. And much like the Gujarat CM8217;s Gaurav Yatra, Dilip Singh Judeo was hoping to ride to power on his Ashwamedha Rath, his chosen vehicle for campaigning. In fact, he had even pledged to shave off his moustache if he did not oust Chief Minister Ajit Jogi in the December 1 polls.

Considered a strong BJP chief ministerial candidate for Chhattisgarh, Judeo, a member of the royal family of Jashpur, owed much of his popularity to his allegiance to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. For over two decades, he has been at the helm of a Ghar Vapsi Abhiyan 8212; a programme to bring Dalits and tribals who have converted to Christianity back to the Hindu fold by washing their feet with gangajal. After the formation of Chhattisgarh, Judeo took up the campaign more aggressively. Even after being included in the Union Cabinet last year as the Minister of State for Environment, he continued his Ghar Vapsi Abhiyan, terming it as a 8216;8216;personal agenda8217;8217; and 8216;8216;service to Hindutva8217;8217;.

Judeo has never made a secret of his anti-conversion stand. In the past two years, the fiercest attacks against Jogi have been led by Judeo. Alleging a major spurt in conversions after Jogi, a Christian, took over, he even claimed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had chosen him as Chhattisgarh CM on the Pope8217;s orders.

An alumnus of the local Raj Kumar College, Judeo first shot into political limelight when he contested the Kharsia Assembly bypolls against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh in 1987. Singh had just returned after his stint as Punjab Governor and wanted to prove his popularity over the Shukla brothers 8212; Shyama Charan and Vidya Charan. Judeo lost the contest, but by a very narrow margin. Unfazed by the defeat, Judeo led an impressive 8216;8216;victory march8217;8217; in the streets, claiming that the polls were stage-managed to ensure Singh8217;s win.

In 1989, Judeo was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jangir Chapa constituency, defeating P.K. Mishra of the Congress. Soon after, Judeo, who enjoyed the patronage of the late Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia, was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha membership in 1993. This is his second term in the Rajya Sabha, a stint which ends in 2004.

Jogi and Judeo are old political foes, often resorting to rather personal attacks against each other. Judeo blames Jogi, who was Arjun Singh8217;s pointman during the Kharsia bypolls, for 8216;8216;manipulating the votes8217;8217; that made him lose to the Congress leader. When Jogi became Chief Minister, cases alleging power theft were registered against Judeo. More recently, following allegations that Jogi8217;s son, Amit, had obtained Scheduled Tribe certificate despite being a US citizen, there was a counter-charge of Judeo8217;s son, Prabhat, applying for a green card.

Judeo8217;s foes were not limited to opposition parties. Even within the BJP, he had made a lot of enemies 8212; a fact which stopped the party from naming him as their official chief ministerial candidate. It was only his dominance in Adivasi and tribal strongholds that placed him ahead of his rivals like State party president Raman Singh and Union Minister for Mines Ramesh Bais.