By Neeraj Mishra
It’s polling day tomorrow in Chhattisgarh and it will take former chief minister Dr Raman Singh to the same day five years ago when he lost his empire to the Congress. Politics is all about opportunities lost and opportunities snatched. Dr Raman Singh’s 15-year reign came to an end to what most people attribute as the anti-incumbency factor and Congress’ clever promise of paddy procurement at Rs 2,500 per quintal that swung the farm vote.
While that may be true, what Singh will probably rue most are the three crucial mistakes he made in power in the third term. There was no serious allegation of corruption against him personally and he remains popular till this day but his government had become corrupt and inefficient and you cannot sit over it and expect people to swallow the inadequacies of his administration. While corruption in itself was not a major issue in the 2018 campaign, people had had enough of Singh’s team.
So the first mistake was to succumb to the pressure of the business lobby. Brijmohan Agarwal, Amar Agarwal, Gaurishankar Agarwal and Rajesh Mudat were the most powerful ministers in his cabinet. They more or less did as they pleased and each one was involved in some scam or the other. Some proven, some mere allegations. From land to real estate, excise to mining, they controlled every bit of the monetary landscape. Ultimately, Singh was forced to use some trusted bureaucrats to counter their power. This brought on another calamity.
Some bureaucrats gained disproportionate power as happens almost everywhere. They remain behind the scenes so the ultimate loss was the BJP’s and Raman Singh’s. All the businessmen-turned-politicians lost in an upheaval, except Brijmohan, caused by dissatisfaction in the electorate with exploitation.
The Congress, and particularly Bhupesh Baghel, caught onto this theme smartly and over the next five years, Baghel built an aura of being “Chhattisgaria” and everyone else branded as outsider or pardesia. Today, the elections are being fought on farmer enticement and Chhattisgaria pride. Some of the losing businessmen politicians of the BJP have returned and may again cause some damage. Singh perhaps knows but not everything is now under his control.
Which brings us to the second big mistake Raman Singh made. He let go of a solid corruption case against a senior Congressman. This leader was involved in a scam in his department as minister in the Jogi government. Singh let the case be withdrawn by the state. Today, he must be kicking himself for it, since it ultimately led to his own downfall and the Congress’ return.
The third mistake Raman Singh made was to bring his son into active politics by making him contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. His son, Abhishek, is a warm, smart person but should have remained in the background, biding his time. This was also done against the advice of the then BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi, who frowned upon dynastic politics. Abhishek was denied a ticket in 2019 after his name came up in the Panama papers. Though nothing has been proved and the allegations have remained unsubstantiated, it brought down Raman Singh’s own standing within the party.
Tomorrow, Raman Singh and his party face the most crucial election of his life because after this he will not get another shot at anything in Chhattisgarh politics. If he loses, he will fade into the political horizon and if he wins, he will still have the opportunity to contest against political upstarts in his own party for the top job. The stage is set, the stakes are high and Raman Singh has his fingers crossed firmly.