In Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi family’s ‘homecoming’ on the cards as party seeks merger with Cong

This letter followed the Chhattisgarh Congress’s open call, inviting rebels and former leaders to return to the party fold.

In its letter, a copy of which was accessed by The Indian Express, JCC(J) chief Renu Jogi, the wife of late Ajit Jogi, told Baij that the decision was unanimously taken by her party leaders.

“The core committee of our party has unanimously decided that by merging our party with the All India Congress Committee, all the office bearers and members want to join the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Party. Therefore, please accept our humble request and allow us to join Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress,” the letter said.

JCC(J)’s arc

Ajit Jogi was one of the tallest Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh. He was associated with the party since 1986 and became the first CM of Chhattisgarh when it was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000.

Jogi continued to remain a key leader of the state Congress until 2013 when differences started to mount after the Jhiram Ghati Maoist attack. The attack had killed almost the entire state Congress leadership. After this, the Congress high command’s alleged backing of other state leaders such as Bhupesh Baghel and TS Singh Deo was said to have upset Jogi.

In January 2016, The Indian Express published a report on purported conversations between key political players of Chhattisgarh that suggested a financial deal could have led to the withdrawal of a Congress candidate from the Antagarh bypoll in 2014. The report referred to several phone conversations purportedly between Jogi, his son Amit Jogi and then BJP CM Raman Singh’s son-in-law Puneet Gupta and others.

Days later, Chhattisgarh Congress chief Baghel and Congress Legislature Party leader Sinh Deo, along with several state party leaders, handed a memorandum to the Election Commission, which said that a “conspiracy” was hatched to make Congress candidate Manturam Pawar withdraw from the Antagarh bypoll at the last minute. Amit was expelled from the party for six years. Later, Ajit Jogi left the Congress and formed the JCC(J).

Speaking with the media then, Jogi had said he formed his party to stop then CM Raman Singh from getting a fourth term. He had also said he wanted to create a “regional power”.

The JCC (J) contested its first election in the 2018 Assembly polls as an ally of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). It won five seats and polled more votes than the victory margin on 12 other seats. The BSP, on the other hand, got 3.87% votes and won two seats.

Jogi passed away two years later, in May 2020, due to a cardiac arrest.

Amit decided to contest from Marwahi, the seat that fell vacant after his father’s death. But his nomination for the bypoll was rejected over issues with his caste certificate.

Another JCC(J) MLA Devwrat Singh passed away in 2021. The party’s two other MLAs — Dharmjeet Singh and Pramod Sharma — joined the BJP. This made Renu Jogi the JCC(J)’s lone MLA.

Ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, the BSP broke its alliance with the JCC-J. With its strength and cadre

depleted, the JCC(J) could not win a single seat. All three Jogi family members — Renu, Amit and his wife Richa — also lost the election.

Talking to The Indian Express about her letter to the Chhattisgarh Congress chief, Renu Jogi said: “We formed the party after parting ways with the Congress. The Congress has given us a lot and whatever we have been able to achieve is because of the Congress.”

She said, “Due to some reasons, Jogi ji had made a regional party. But now he has passed away. I do not know how to run a party. I am not a political person. I have worked for 22 years in a medical college. I am not able to run this party successfully and we saw the result in the last Assembly polls. Keeping all this in mind, all party workers took a decision to join Congress before the local body elections.”

Deepak Baij said the state Congress will soon hold a meeting to discuss the applications from leaders who want to come back to the party. These requests, he said, will be forwarded to Chhattisgarh Congress in-charge Sachin Pilot for the consideration of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

Former CM Baghel said he would “put forth his opinion on the matter to the party high command.”