Digvijaya says 2028 polls under Singhar, Patwari; Patwari says collective leadership

Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh said in Guna on Tuesday that the 2028 Assembly election would be fought under the leadership of Umang Singhar and Jitu Patwari. The statement heated up Congress politics in Madhya Pradesh. On Wednesday, PCC president Jitu Patwari reached Raghogarh to join Digvijaya Singh's yatra. There he said the 2028 election would be fought under collective leadership.

Digvijaya Singh is currently leading the Satya Sanatan Swabhiman Yatra from Ujjain to Ayodhya. After the first phase ended on November 5, the second phase began on November 11.

Before the second phase, Digvijaya Singh attended a private event in Guna on Tuesday. Speaking to the media, he said Kamal Nath was a senior leader of the party, had dominance and held influence in Madhya Pradesh. Asked under whose leadership the 2028 election would be fought, he named Jitu Patwari and Umang Singhar.

In Raghogarh, Patwari said the Congress would fight the election under collective leadership and that the party would form the government with "500 per cent" certainty. He said, "I am the party president, and I said we will fight under collective leadership."

Addressing a public meeting in Raghogarh, Digvijaya Singh's hometown, Patwari said, "I am also his son. But for many years I have been saying that the political legacy is mine and all the money belongs to JV (Jaivardhan)." He also said he had never met a person as good and pure-hearted as Digvijaya Singh in his life, that he had learnt from him what public conduct means, and that any virtue in him, even as small as a grain of wheat, was given by Digvijaya Singh.

Following these statements, political discussion has intensified inside and outside the Congress. Some say the statement points to a generational change in the party, while others see it as a strategy by Digvijaya Singh.

Dinesh Gupta said a generational change had taken place in the state after the last Assembly election and that Rahul Gandhi was backing both leaders, so it was the need of the hour in the Congress. According to him, since Patwari and Singhar currently hold their posts, it can be assumed the election will be fought under them, but in politics what is visible today need not be so tomorrow. He said this was Digvijaya Singh's own opinion, not that of the Congress high command. The high command is currently busy with the Uttar Pradesh election, and Digvijaya Singh gave this opinion in haste, as there is still time before the election, he said.

On Patwari reaching Raghogarh, Gupta said Patwari had also attended the start of the yatra in Ujjain, before this statement. The yatra had been postponed during Rahul Gandhi's Diwali dinner party. As the yatra was to begin in an area of Digvijaya Singh's influence, Patwari may also have been invited, he said.

On the collective leadership remark, Gupta said the Congress always fights elections under collective leadership and has no chief ministerial face. However, according to him, that collective leadership is not visible on the ground. He said Patwari's statement was in line with party practice and that he did not give an enthusiastic response to Digvijaya Singh's remark. According to Gupta, Patwari expects Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath, Kamleshwar Patel and Jaivardhan Singh to be part of the election effort as well.

On the "I am also Digvijaya Singh's son" remark, Gupta said no friction had ever surfaced between Patwari, Digvijaya Singh and Jaivardhan Singh. When Jaivardhan became district Congress committee president, it was said he had been sent out of state politics, but according to Gupta, it must have been Rahul Gandhi's decision to send him to the ground against Jyotiraditya Scindia. Gupta said that was a religious yatra platform, not a political one, so Patwari, regarding himself as junior, said only what could be said, and there is no political indication in it.

On Kamal Nath's dominance, Gupta said the dominance existed in 2023 too, so why was the result so much worse in 2023 than in 2018. According to him, Digvijaya Singh tried to win over Kamal Nath and did not target him. Gupta said that if the Congress is to stay alive, it will have to come back with new faces. According to him, Kamal Nath may have more supporters in the party than Digvijaya Singh, but the mass base is not Kamal Nath's.