<b>R Krishna Das:</b> Civic body elections expose internal feuds in BJP, Cong

The outcome is likely to have an impact on state Chief Minister Raman Singh's future; the Congress is a divided house, too

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh had hired two helicopters for campaigning during the civic body elections in the state through December. While one of them was used by Chief Minister Raman Singh, the other stayed grounded for most of the time.

The helicopter's inactivity was in many ways a metaphor for the idleness of the BJP brass and reflected the simmering internal feud. The second chopper was hired for BJP National General Secretary Saroj Pandey, who was appointed co-convenor for the civic body polls. She is considered to be in the anti-Raman Singh camp. Pandey was annoyed because her supporters were denied tickets.

"Never has factional feud in the party assumed such proportions in the BJP," said a senior party leader. The trouble began when Singh's trusted Cabinet colleague and state transport and public works department minister Rajesh Munat went public saying that he wanted to contest the poll for the Raipur mayor's post.

But the chief minister's rivals scuttled Munat's moves. Finally, the BJP announced the name of Sacchidanand Upasne, who has the strong backing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as a compromise candidate.

"I never thought I would be the BJP's mayoral candidate from Raipur and hence was not prepared," said Upasne. The BJP made Brijmohan Agrawal, a member of the anti-Raman Singh camp, the convener of the civic body election so as to minimise chances of internal sabotage.

Even as Upasne struggled to complete his canvassing in a short span of time, most leaders showed no interest in making him win. The 10 BJP Members of Parliament were nowhere to be seen. BJP candidates across the state also got little support from senior leaders. The results will be announced on Sunday.

According to political observers, the outcome of the civic body elections would be crucial for Singh and the state unit of the party. The issue of shrinking vote share was brought to the notice of party president Amit Shah during his visit to Chhattisgarh last month. The difference between the vote share of the Congress and the BJP in the 2013 Assembly elections was less than two per cent.

"An adverse result in the elections could kick off a campaign against Singh," says political commentator Virendra Pandey. If the BJP's performance is good, it would help Singh come out of the controversy surrounding the sterilisation deaths in the state last year. However, the chances of the BJP's poor show in the election were remote, as the Congress had failed to come up as an effective political option.

The situation in the Congress is even worse. The fight between state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi is showing no signs of easing. Baghel had recently said it would not make any difference if Jogi did not turn up for campaigning. Baghel was responding to Jogi's statement that he would not campaign for the civic body polls.

Jogi has considerable support among party cadre and masses. But his lack of interest in the polls, left many of his supporters in the lurch.

Supporters of Jogi and Baghel clashed twice in the party headquarters. A senior Congress leader explained that the BJP was promoting Jogi and former Opposition leader Ravindra Choubey, who suddenly came into the picture during the election. "This triggered a clash within the party. This is bound to help the BJP," the leader said.

Although the BJP is better placed to win the polls, it is more because of the failure of the Congress rather than the saffron party's strength. But it doesn't mean things are easy for Singh.