Congress not likely to field Scindia in MP

The Congress is unlikely to field its star campaigner and Union Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election as it is still not confident of dislodging the 10-year-old BJP government in the state.

The bone of contention for the Congress still remains its senior leaders — Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath, Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Kantilal Bhuria and Scindia himself.

These leaders are known to lead factions of Madhya Pradesh Congress units and are considered to wield power to make or break poll prospects of the party.

“A win in Madhya Pradesh would be a miracle. We are looking good, but it has to be much better,” a senior Congress leader told Deccan Herald.

A view in the AICC is that Scindia should not be fielded in the November 25 elections as an outright win for the Congress is not a surety.

Since his elevation, the Congress has held rallies in 32 districts across the state with all the regional satraps travelling together to the venues and holding hands to portray a picture of unity.

But the central leadership is still wary of these leaders and not sure how they would react once the candidates for the elections are declared. The first list of candidates is expected anytime in three days.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are expected to address rallies in Madhya Pradesh a week before the elections.

The Congress had named Scindia as the lead campaigner to project new leadership in the state, also aiming to set its faction-ridden unit in order.

The scion of the Scindia dynasty, Jyotiraditya is a third-term member of the Lok Sabha from Guna.

Political observers say that Scindia has been getting good response throughout his tours across the state but not enough to dislodge Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.