Ashok Chavan latest blow, unease grows in Congress over BJP’s blitz, Rahul Yatra timing

Chavan’s resignation had been coming for a while, as he was known to be sulking. What many in the Congress expressed surprise over was the lack of efforts on the part of the high command to placate him. Sources said that at least a month ago, AICC in-charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala flagged to the leadership that some leaders against whom there are cases were “facing pressure” to quit, and that the activities of such leaders should be monitored.

On Monday, as Chavan exited the party, the Congress chose to lay the blame on his and the BJP’s doors, suggesting that the cases against him were the motivating factor.

But, behind the scenes, the party is bracing for more trouble, with apprehension rife that some MLAs close to the ex-CM (sources put their number at half-a-dozen) could quit and potentially spoil the Congress’s chances of winning a Rajya Sabha seat from the state in elections later this month.

Chennithala, who came to Delhi after the weekend in Maharashtra, is rushing back to Mumbai to meet senior leaders. The party has begun reaching out to all its MLAs. “How can we predict what they plan to do? After all, Chavan himself attended a meeting with Chennithala on Sunday,” a senior leader said.

Officially, Chennithala maintained: “Chavan’s exit will not affect the Congress.”

Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan said: “I do not think anyone from the Congress will follow Ashok Chavan. The party is holding a meeting with all its MLAs in Mumbai on Tuesday to review the situation.”

Congress leaders also admitted in private that the BJP design to “systematically” break up the INDIA bloc and force desertions from the party was clear. Chavan’s exit came days after two other Congress leaders from Maharashtra – Baba Siddique and Milind Deora – quit, and the apprehension is that the BJP is succeeding in conveying the perception of an INDIA bloc in tatters and a Congress that is isolated.

In what is seen as a conscious strategy, the BJP has toned down its attack against the INDIA bloc, which it once dubbed ‘Ghamandiya (arrogant)’ and ‘INDI’ alliance, and is focusing on the Congress.

“Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that her party would contest on its own came just before Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was to enter Bengal. Then came Nitish Kumar’s exit from the INDIA alliance, the arrest of JMM leader Hemant Soren and the RLD’s decision to walk out in Uttar Pradesh. We are expecting some desertions in Madhya Pradesh as well (where the Yatra is headed),” a senior leader said, adding that the NDA “is not on a strong wicket in Maharashtra” and hence the bid to break the Opposition parties.

Sources also said the BJP was using pressure tactics such as ongoing probes by investigating agencies to throttle the INDIA alliance. Chavan is believed to have approached the party leadership over this as recently as Saturday, while a leader pointed to the Enforcement Directorate summons to National Conference president Farooq Abdullah for Tuesday, just when the party and Congress are “in advanced stages of finalising seat-sharing”.

Another Congress leader claimed that the BJP was also at work to ensure that the alliance of the party with the AAP in Delhi does not happen.

UP too has not been good going. Even before the RLD shock came, the Congress was taken by surprise at the SP’s unilateral decision to announce 11 seats for it, and declare its own candidates in 16 seats. “In the end, we may end up with seat-sharing pacts in only states like Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, where we were part of alliances even before the formation of the INDIA bloc,” one leader said.

More and more Congress leaders now are raising questions about the timing of the Rahul Yatra. “It was ill-advised strategically. Had the party consulted the veterans… we would have said no. Just sit on the laurels of the earlier Yatra, focus on coordination with INDIA parties, organise big joint rallies in state capitals… at least one a week… that would have had far more impact,” a leader said.

Another leader countered this, saying: “Rahul’s plan to embark on a second yatra came up for discussion at the December 21 CWC meeting and almost every leader asked him to go ahead.”

As things stand, the Yatra is on till next month, concluding in Mumbai, and the party fears the exit of MLAs and allies is all bad optics.

In the official reaction to Chavan’s exit, Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh said: “When friends and colleagues leave a political party that has given them much – perhaps much more than they deserved – it is always a matter of anguish. But to those who are vulnerable, THAT Washing Machine will always prove more attractive than ideological commitment or personal loyalties. These betrayers don’t realise that their exit opens up vast new opportunities to those whose growth they have always stunted.”