 "Being chief minister's son can go to one's head, and Jogi is no exception")
On a sultry morning in 2005, Amit Jogi woke up in the barracks of the Raipur Central Jail with a rude kick on his back. “It is already 5 (am) and you are still sleeping,” fumed the barrack in-charge, a convicted prisoner, with unconcealed contempt.
That was Jogi’s second day in prison. He had been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, on July 1 in connection with the murder of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ramavtar Jaggi on June 4, 2003 in Raipur. His father, Ajit Jogi, was Chhattisgarh’s chief minister when the murder took place.
A late riser who hadn’t seen sunrise in years, the kick was a new experience for the young man used to a life of comfort: his father was an officer of the elite Indian Administrative Service who had taken a plunge into politics in the mid-1980s when he joined the Congress. His rise in the party was rapid. When Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000, Ajit Jogi became its first chief minister.
Being the chief minister’s son can go to one’s head, and Jogi was no exception. The morning kick jolted him out of his safety zone. “The treatment at the barracks made me realise what I am and what is my respect; literally, I am nothing,” Jogi narrated to one of his close associates while sharing his prison experiences.
Once this realisation set in, it did not take him much time to adjust with the rules of the prison. He taught English to the under-trials and penned down his memoirs. Prison life reformed him. Ever since, Jogi gets up in the wee hours of the morning.
After 10 months, he was released on bail and later acquitted in the case. The incarceration made Jogi combative. He went in as a soft man and came out a hardened street fighter.
What didn’t change was his vaulting ambition. The 38-year-old American-born politician (he became one of the “handful of persons to renounce his American passport in favour of Indian citizenship in 2004,” Jogi’s website claims) simply cannot stay out of the limelight.
This meddlesome trait was visible in 2003 when Jogi’s name appeared in a sting that caught Union minister Dilip Singh Judeo of the Bharatiya Janata Party accepting a bribe. Judeo, who accused Jogi of conducting the sting operation, had to resign from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The allegation is based on the statement given by CBI in the Supreme Court in 2005.
In his zeal to be in the thick of things, Jogi possible rubs some people the wrong way.
Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, once a loyal aide of the Jogis and now their bitter opponent, says when it comes to dealing with individuals, Jogi fails miserably and that has resulted in many strong followers jumping ship. Trivedi finds Jogi’s hot temperament and inconsistent nature his biggest weaknesses. He insists that Jogi does not believe in a democratic way of functioning and his approach is autocratic.
A doctor close to the family also counts arrogance as Jogi’s major drawback but says that it is in his nature to trust “anyone”. Many close loyalists may have ditched him and damaged his reputation but he still has a strong following amongst the youth. A close friend says Jogi wants instant results and doesn’t have the patience to wait long for the outcome. He hears everyone out but finally takes the decision that suits him, the friend adds.
And this is what caused the several run-ins with his rivals within the Congress.
During the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, Jogi posed for a photograph with the BJP candidate from Korba, Bansilal Mahato, over tea. As the photograph went viral, his opponents in the Congress went ballistic. For good reason: the then Union minister and a prominent leader of the anti-Jogi camp, Charandas Mahant, was the party’s official candidate. Mahant lost the election, blamed it on the Jogi camp and now leads the team that has been vocal against the father-son duo.
Then last month, a purported conversation was leaked that showed Jogi and his father talking to Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son-in-law, Puneet Gupta, to fix the Antagarh by-election for the ruling BJP. The Congress candidate, Manturam Pawar, withdrew from the fray at the last minute.
The state Congress swung into action immediately and expelled Jogi from the party for six years and recommended to the party high command similar action against his father who he is Congress Working Committee member. The Jogis have denied their involvement in the case.
Jogi looks all set to contest the decision. “The party is not anybody’s Bapoti (personal fiefdom) and I have been denied natural justice as the action was taken without verifying the tapes,” he says. He is confident that justice will prevail once he lodges his appeal with the party high command against his expulsion.
You can expect some drama as Jogi fights back: the man has a penchant for the theatrical. Thus, when he entered pubic life in June 2010, after practising at the Chhattisgarh High Court for over a year, Jogi undertook a peace march through the violence-ridden regions of south Bastar.
The Marwahi legislator who won the seat with record votes of over 46,000 loves to throw surprises. When his father was the chief minister (2000-2003), Jogi stunned the entire police machinery by visiting Marwahi police station with an elderly woman whose complaint that her goat had gone missing had not been registered by the police.
Those close to Jogi accept that all the negative publicity has damaged his reputation but insist that he is down to earth, helpful and a great team leader. A self-proclaimed follower of Mahatma Gandhi, Jogi says: “They will laugh at you, they will disturb you, they will act against you, but at the end, you will win.”
That was Jogi’s second day in prison. He had been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, on July 1 in connection with the murder of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ramavtar Jaggi on June 4, 2003 in Raipur. His father, Ajit Jogi, was Chhattisgarh’s chief minister when the murder took place.
A late riser who hadn’t seen sunrise in years, the kick was a new experience for the young man used to a life of comfort: his father was an officer of the elite Indian Administrative Service who had taken a plunge into politics in the mid-1980s when he joined the Congress. His rise in the party was rapid. When Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000, Ajit Jogi became its first chief minister.
Being the chief minister’s son can go to one’s head, and Jogi was no exception. The morning kick jolted him out of his safety zone. “The treatment at the barracks made me realise what I am and what is my respect; literally, I am nothing,” Jogi narrated to one of his close associates while sharing his prison experiences.
Once this realisation set in, it did not take him much time to adjust with the rules of the prison. He taught English to the under-trials and penned down his memoirs. Prison life reformed him. Ever since, Jogi gets up in the wee hours of the morning.
After 10 months, he was released on bail and later acquitted in the case. The incarceration made Jogi combative. He went in as a soft man and came out a hardened street fighter.
What didn’t change was his vaulting ambition. The 38-year-old American-born politician (he became one of the “handful of persons to renounce his American passport in favour of Indian citizenship in 2004,” Jogi’s website claims) simply cannot stay out of the limelight.
This meddlesome trait was visible in 2003 when Jogi’s name appeared in a sting that caught Union minister Dilip Singh Judeo of the Bharatiya Janata Party accepting a bribe. Judeo, who accused Jogi of conducting the sting operation, had to resign from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The allegation is based on the statement given by CBI in the Supreme Court in 2005.
In his zeal to be in the thick of things, Jogi possible rubs some people the wrong way.
Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, once a loyal aide of the Jogis and now their bitter opponent, says when it comes to dealing with individuals, Jogi fails miserably and that has resulted in many strong followers jumping ship. Trivedi finds Jogi’s hot temperament and inconsistent nature his biggest weaknesses. He insists that Jogi does not believe in a democratic way of functioning and his approach is autocratic.
A doctor close to the family also counts arrogance as Jogi’s major drawback but says that it is in his nature to trust “anyone”. Many close loyalists may have ditched him and damaged his reputation but he still has a strong following amongst the youth. A close friend says Jogi wants instant results and doesn’t have the patience to wait long for the outcome. He hears everyone out but finally takes the decision that suits him, the friend adds.
And this is what caused the several run-ins with his rivals within the Congress.
During the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, Jogi posed for a photograph with the BJP candidate from Korba, Bansilal Mahato, over tea. As the photograph went viral, his opponents in the Congress went ballistic. For good reason: the then Union minister and a prominent leader of the anti-Jogi camp, Charandas Mahant, was the party’s official candidate. Mahant lost the election, blamed it on the Jogi camp and now leads the team that has been vocal against the father-son duo.
Then last month, a purported conversation was leaked that showed Jogi and his father talking to Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son-in-law, Puneet Gupta, to fix the Antagarh by-election for the ruling BJP. The Congress candidate, Manturam Pawar, withdrew from the fray at the last minute.
The state Congress swung into action immediately and expelled Jogi from the party for six years and recommended to the party high command similar action against his father who he is Congress Working Committee member. The Jogis have denied their involvement in the case.
Jogi looks all set to contest the decision. “The party is not anybody’s Bapoti (personal fiefdom) and I have been denied natural justice as the action was taken without verifying the tapes,” he says. He is confident that justice will prevail once he lodges his appeal with the party high command against his expulsion.
You can expect some drama as Jogi fights back: the man has a penchant for the theatrical. Thus, when he entered pubic life in June 2010, after practising at the Chhattisgarh High Court for over a year, Jogi undertook a peace march through the violence-ridden regions of south Bastar.
The Marwahi legislator who won the seat with record votes of over 46,000 loves to throw surprises. When his father was the chief minister (2000-2003), Jogi stunned the entire police machinery by visiting Marwahi police station with an elderly woman whose complaint that her goat had gone missing had not been registered by the police.
Those close to Jogi accept that all the negative publicity has damaged his reputation but insist that he is down to earth, helpful and a great team leader. A self-proclaimed follower of Mahatma Gandhi, Jogi says: “They will laugh at you, they will disturb you, they will act against you, but at the end, you will win.”
