Former chief minister minister Kamal Nath has given up the post of leader of opposition (LoP) in Madhya Pradesh assembly. Govind Singh, former minister and seven-time MLA from Lahar in Bhind district will be the new LoP.
A letter by Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal to Nath on Thursday said that his resignation from the post Congress legislature Party (CLP) leader had been accepted with immediate effect by the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi). The letter also mentioned that the Congress president had approved the proposal to appoint Govind Singh as the leader of CLP (and consequently leader of opposition in state assembly) in Madhya Pradesh.
Nath, who is also the MP Congress chief, had been indicating his willingness to give up the post of LoP for a long time now. Recently too, he had indicated that some decision will be taken in consultation with Congress high command. Nath is also among the seniormost national leaders of the party and remains engaged in the national level strategic moves of the party.
The decision to give up the post of LoP of Madhya Pradesh is being looked upon as a strategic move ahead of the 2023 assembly polls as Nath had been serving dual responsibility since past two years and it has become imperative for him to focus on his task to lead the party campaign for the 2023 polls.
The ruling BJP has often attacked Nath for his regular visits to Delhi and his apparent short attendance in the state assembly, which has itself conducted quite short business hours during the past two years.
Recently, Nath’s statement that he was not going to give up his time to meet important people to listen to ‘bakwas’ (rubbish) by the BJP in the assembly, had created quite a furore, with the BJP gunning for action against him by the assembly speaker.
Govind Singh’s selection as the LoP has many aspects to it. The senior MLA comes from the Gwalior-Chambal region, which is in focus during the past two years since most of the MLAs of Congress who deserted the party with Jyotiradiya Scindia in March 2022 come from this region.
Singh, who is from the Thakur community – a politically dominant caste in the state—is among the most vocal leaders of Congress in the state and is considered close to former chief minister Digvijaya Singh.
Speaking to the media after his appointment, Singh said the issues of people, including excesses of the state government against people, especially through its discriminatory and illegal bulldozer action, unemployment, price rise, issues of farmers will be all taken up in the assembly with full force. “We will not sit quiet until we oust the BJP government in the 2023 polls,” Singh said.
The MP Congress called the decision of the Congress president as one that is beneficial for the state unit of the party. Spokesman K.K. Mishra said Singh is the seniormost Congress MLA in the assembly who has been born from the womb of struggle and sacrifice. “He is an undefeated warrior, who has never lost an election or his zest to fight for people’s issues. He is completely dedicated to party ideology and is the most eligible person for the post. We thank the Congress president for this decision,” Mishra said.
The BJP reacted expectedly. Spokesman Hitesh Bajpai said the Congress central leadership has taken action and removed Nath from one of the posts he held because of the growing discontent against him in the state unit of the party. He said that this indicates that internal strife continues in the opposition party.
