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While it was no surprise when former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh was named to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) by party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday, it was the inclusion of Kamleshwar Patel, an MLA from MP’s Sihawal constituency, that came as a surprise.
Most Congress leaders expecting several senior members to be part of the CWC were taken aback at the inclusion of the 49-year-old Patel, a two-time MLA known to keep a low profile and for his subdued working style. The CWC, the national executive body that directs party activities and election campaigns, was reconstituted by Kharge with an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
When asked if he considered his inclusion in the CWC a surprise, Patel told The Indian Express: “I have always worked like a karyakarta (party worker). I think that if any politician remains a karyakarta, then there is no gap between the politician and the booth-level worker. A small karyakarta like me has been given such an important responsibility… I feel proud.”
Patel is the son of Indrajeet Kumar, a former seven-time MLA from the Sidhi seat. A B.A. and L.L.B. graduate, Patel initially established himself as a student leader in the late 1980s, serving as the general secretary of the National Students’ Union of India, the Congress’s youth wing, and was the vice-president of the Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress till 2001.
He then served a two-year stint as the chairperson of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) cell in the All India Youth Congress. His first foray into the party’s central leadership came when he was appointed the national coordinator for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi touring schedule in 2009. He then served as the general secretary of the MP Congress Committee, the secretary of the AICC, and is currently a vice-president of the party’s MP state unit.
Patel won his first Assembly election from Sihawal in 2013, beating the BJP candidate by more than 32,000 votes, though the BJP came to power. He was re-elected in 2018 with a similar winning margin. Under the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, he was the state minister for panchayat and rural development from 2018 to 2020.
While talking about the difference between the Congress and BJP governments, Patel said: “In the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government, there are a lot more speeches, announcements and showing off. People should be getting facilities (the government speaks proudly of giving). During the Congress governments, there was less infrastructure but still the Congress performed better than the BJP in sectors like education. They took away the rights of the panchayats over these past 18 years. They have centralised corruption under their government.”
Patel also pointed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah taking command of the BJP campaign in the state and the appointment of 230 MLAs and leaders from other states as “observers” to assess each MP constituency and assist with poll preparations.
“If such good work was done in the past 18 years, then I don’t think there would have been a need to bring politicians from different states and several central ministers. There has been no development in this state, only BJP leaders have benefited,” Patel said.
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Congress party insiders say Patel was chosen so that he could be developed into a second-generation OBC leader. “Three BJP chief ministers (Uma Bharti, Babu Lal Gaur and Shivraj Singh Chouhan) have been from the OBC community, which holds a decisive vote in elections. He (Patel) is being given a responsibility to prove himself and will be projected as an emerging OBC leader. There was a time when (former Congress MP and ex-state unit president) Arun Yadav held such a position. He was the son of a deputy CM, and a mass leader, but was sidelined over the years. He then lost to CM Chouhan in the 2018 Assembly polls in the Budhni constituency,” a Congress leader said.
Patel’s rise in the party may also “pose a challenge for other prominent leaders in the Vindhya Pradesh region”, as he will be expected to “help strategise ways to deliver BJP strongholds” in this region, party insiders said. Vindhya Pradesh, consisting of districts in the northern Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand regions, was created as a state after Independence before being merged with Madhya Pradesh in 1956.
While the BJP fared poorly in several regions in Madhya Pradesh during the 2018 Assembly polls, its grip on the Vindhya Pradesh region remained intact thanks to the unwavering support of the Kol Adivasi community. The Vindhya region has 30 Assembly seats, of which the BJP won 24 in 2018. Despite coming to power, it was the one region where the Congress struggled with the OBCs and the Kols opted to support the BJP instead.
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