<b>Newsmaker:</b> Ajit Jogi

Within a month after Chhattisgarh came into being in November 2000, Chief Minister (CM) Ajit Jogi summoned senior officials. He asked them to immediately take steps to form the state's own electricity board.

Under the bifurcation norm, the new state could not form its own board before the division of assets and liabilities between Madhya Pradesh and itself. However, Jogi insisted. There was a bank balance of Rs 750 crore in the Chhattisgarh region that practically belonged to Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board (MPEB).

"On the CM's instruction, the bank authorities were convinced and the amount was transferred in the account of the newly formed Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board," said officials. The new state retaining the huge amount was a shock for the Madhya Pradesh government, then led by Digvijaya Singh. Interestingly, both states were ruled by the Congress. That was Jogi's style - no second thoughts on bold measures in the interest of Chhattisgarh. He paid for this, creating enemies for himself in the manoeuvres.
 

A gold medallist in mechanical engineering from the Bhopal-based Maulana Azad College of Technology and an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1971 batch, Jogi was well-acquainted with the bureaucracy and its working. Civil servants, during his tenure, could not take decisions at whim.

In another incident, Jogi summoned law department officials for notes on a speech he was to give in the legislative assembly over caste. "The team in the gallery was shocked when Jogi did not utter a single word from the officers' note; he gave an extempore speech," an official said. Jogi ruled Chhattisgarh for three years and laid a strong foundation at the onset that ensured the state started early on the road to development. Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were both with Chhattisgarh; they're way behind in comparison.

Unfortunately for his son, Amit Jogi, he had to bear the brunt of his father's political adventurism. Amit was jailed for almost 10 months as an accused in the murder of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ramavtar Jaggi in 2003, a case in which he was later acquitted.

In another case in 2003, filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, he was accused of planning a 'sting' against late state BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo for political mileage. More recently, Amit Jogi was expelled from the Congress party for six years in connection with the 'fixing scandal' of the 2014 by-elections.

Ajit Jogi, now 70, was known for a strict administration. He took the step to remove the VIP beacon from official vehicles during his tenure. People who have watched Jogi closely in the Congress said he knew how to read the pulse and how to get close to the right people. He came close to Rajiv Gandhi when still in service and the latter helped him at the start of his political career. When Sonia Gandhi took over the reins of the party in 1998, Jogi became one of her trusted men. When it came to choosing the first CM of Chhattisgarh two years later, she named Jogi rather than the far more senior Vidya Charan Shukla.

However, he has been unable to maintain the rhythm with Rahul Gandhi and has said he'll be forming a new political party. This new innings has started and there is much debate about where it will go. What is undebatable is his strength as a "big fighter". For the past 12 years, he has been confined to a wheelchair, a road accident during an election campaign in April 2004; it left all his four limbs paralysed. This, however, did not keep him down; he has remained in the news right through.