Spotlight on Judeo in Chhattisgarh

BJP determined to make him star campaigner, Congress says he epitomises BJP's corruption

If there is one issue, which is at the centre-stage in Chhattisgarh's politics at the moment, it is Dilip Singh Judeo.

For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he is a star-campaigner who can take on powerful christian missionaries in the tribal regions of the state.

For the Congress, he epitomises the BJP's corruption. In this tribal-dominated state with poverty and illiteracy abound, the idiom of politics has completely changed.

The video-clipping showing Judeo accepting money from one Rahul has thrown all relevant political issues out of focus.

Perhaps, herein lies the strategic victory of the Congress which has been ruling the state for the past one decade (including the period when Ajit Jogi became the chief minister after creating of the state).

There is no doubt that Jogi's manner of running the administration has evoked strong hostility from his political adverasries, particularly the BJP.

That Jogi is most disliked by legislators, who swears by either Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh or Arjun Singh is evident in the election campaign.

In some of the constituencies, Jogi's posters were not put up by candidates in order to distance themselves from the chief minister, a former IAS officer.

But Jogi evokes strong loyalities. He traces his origin to the tribals who form the biggest electorate's chunk.

Similarly, he is considered one of their own by Satnamis, a sizeable population of the scheduled caste, which can influence at least 10-odd seats.

On the positive side, Jogi can boast of putting the state on the road to development by building up infrastructure in the urban areas. But he becomes vulnerable when it comes to rural areas, where the conditions have deteriorated.

What appears to be galling for the Congress is the fact that Jogi has virtually turned all stalwarts against himself.

This is the precise reason for VC Shukla joining the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and throwing a formidable challenge to the Congress.

The NCP has got support from a substantial section of the congress' cadre which has turned against Jogi. Shukla has a strong presence in Raipur and Mahasamund districts which affects at least 15 constitiencues.

Similarly, Motilal Vora and Shyamacharan Shukla, senior Congress leaders of the region, are sulking over the manner in which Jogi ignored them and carried out his own agenda. "In this region's politics, he is the most hated person" said a senior Congress leader.

As the campaign picks up, the issue of Judeo is widely believed to be a master-stroke of Jogi to put the Hindutva forces on the defensive.

That top BJP leadership raging from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani to BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu keep on clarifying the party's position, speaks volumes about the emrrassement caused by the whole episode.

But those who manage the campaign in Chhattisgarh are confident that the crisis would consolidate the BJP cadres and accentuate the anti-Jogi feeling not only in the tribal areas but in the urban areas also.

"Since the whole campaign is focussed on Jogi-versus-rest, the maverick chief minister has much to lose in the elections" say BJP leaders.

Agriculture minister Rajnath Singh said the whole episode would stregthen the people's perception that Jogi was untrustworthy. "This will help the BJP" he added.

In his day-long campaign in the state, Advani made it clear that Judeo would continue to be the star campaigner and he was being framed up in a false case for political reasons.

Obviously, the BJP has realised the adverse political fallouts of 'jettisoning' Judeo, whose support base in Jaspur and adjoining tribal region is least bothered about the corruption charges against him.

"He (Judeo) is a rich man who does not need money for himself" was the comment of BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan.

Obviously, the BJP leadership feels that the Judeo issue would blow over, giving way for the anti-jogi wave when the campaign peaks.

"Does anyone talk about VC Shukla's role during emergency ?" asked a senior BJP leaders, implying that the BJP would recover from the initial shocks.