Is Diggy Raja His Madam’s Voice?

Prashun Bhaumik |

The timely and well thought out argument on the Naxal issue put forth by Digvijay Singh was not his personal views alone.

By  Neerja Chowdhury

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s article in a business daily criticizing the Home Minister for his intellectual arrogance and his handling of the Maoist problem is more about P Chidambaram than about Digvijay Singh, even as it underscores the ongoing power play in the ruling Congress party.

The former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh is no Mani Shankar Aiyer who would publicly take on a colleague — or for that matter a rival – on policy differences. And this was no inspired leak or a remark in an interview given by him to make a short swift point.

It was a signed piece in the country’s leading pink paper read by the chattering classes and corporate honchos, making a definitive statement on the Naxal challenge not being a law and order problem that the Home Minister considered it to be. It took on the Home Minister head on.

Anybody who has known Digvijay Singh or tracked his politics would know that this could not have been a solo piece. Ever since he returned to Delhi after his two stints as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Singh knows his limitations, the Congress culture and the sensitivity of his position only too well to risk any adventurism. He knows that the high command is wary of his ambitions and he would immediately arouse suspicions at any hint of positioning himself independently.  In recent years he has gone out of his way to virtually submerge his political persona and downplay the sharp political entity that he is known to be.

He would know that the only way forward for him is to get Rahul Gandhi’s backing and that is the path he has tried to walk in the last two to three years. It was lucky for him that his advice to Rahul Gandhi to go it alone in the Lok Sabha elections paid him rich dividends and the Congress managed to get ahead of  the SP, the BSP and the BJP in UP. Clearly he has Rahuls ears on UP. As the Congress leader in charge of UP, the party’s revival in the state in 2012 could change the game.

While Digvijay Singh has tried to downplay his importance to gain acceptance in the party and with the high command, Chidambaram’s style has been very different. Ever since he took over as the Home Minister, he has given the impression of carrying the government on his shoulders over the Naxal issue. There was talk about the use of the Air Force to fight the Naxals — a plan shot down by the air force chief. The cabinet secretary put out a note to all ministries not to speak on the issue, asserting that the only authorized ministry to speak on the subject was the Home Ministry. Yet Digvijay breached the diktat.

Digvijay Singh’s article has brought into sharp focus the alternative view in the Congress that the Maoist challenge cannot be only viewed as a law and order problem but has both political and developmental dimensions which could not be ignored in the county’s tribal areas. This is the substance of what Rahul Gandhi had said on one occasion. It is what Defence Minister AK Antony hinted at.  And now a nucleus has formed around Digvijay with Mani Shankar Aiyer agreeing with him “one lakh per cent” and others like Jairam Ramesh, Keshav Rao and Ajit Jogi endorsing his formula.

Many in the Congress have been at the receiving end of the Home Minister’s intellectual arrogance, like Digvijay Singh, but Singh is the only one who could have taken him on. For he is no lightweight, is politically savvy, has a state and a
caste behind him, and financial backing too.

There are many in the Congress who belief that there may have to be an interim arrangement between Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, in case Dr Singh’s health does not permit him to continue. They had been worried at Chidambaram’s recent rise.   He has grown increasingly powerful. The NSA and intelligence chiefs were reporting to him. He talked tough and spoke in terms of the “buck stopping with me.”

What is more, he had the media eating out of his hands. He managed to get more press coverage than most ministers put together. He survived the furore over Telengana and the German Bakery attack in Pune. In a preemptive strike to dilute criticism, he even offered to resign after Dantewada but the PM did not accept his resignation. In fact his offer to resign angered some Congress leaders who saw the minister’s indiscretion helping the BJP politically.

With his tough talk against the Maoists, Chidambaam also acquired a following among the new emerging classes who have made good and who are looking for “security” to keep what they have acquired and get on with their lives. They — this was at one time a traditional constituency of the BJP – were happy with the Home Minister’s no-nonsense approach. This could have created problems for the party high command in the future.

It would be naïve to believe that Digvijay Singh was advocating only an alternative framework for combating the Maoist threat in the country. His piece was also about bringing down Chidambaram a peg or two, to administer just that little jolt to drive home a message that the party high command wanted him to get. And the Home Minister’s body language during the debate in Parliament on Dantewada — at one point, Chidambaran even became emotional – showed
that the message had been driven home.