BHOPAL: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s son and former Chhindwara MP Nakul Nath’s visit to Bhopal on Saturday has set political circles abuzz, triggering speculation over the emergence of a new power centre within the state Congress.
Nakul Nath hosted a gathering in the state capital to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, his father Kamal Nath’s 79th birthday and a Deepawali get-together.
The event assumed added political significance as it was organised by Nakul Nath in his father’s absence, reportedly due to the senior Nath’s health reasons.
With supporters of the Nath family arriving in large numbers and hoardings featuring Nakul Nath appearing across Bhopal, the gathering is increasingly being viewed as a show of strength by the young Congress leader, who won the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat in 2019 but lost it in 2024.
Adding fuel to the political buzz were posters put up outside the Madhya Pradesh Congress headquarters carrying the slogan, “Madhya Pradesh ki Majboori Hai, Nakul Nath Jaroori Hai” (Madhya Pradesh’s compulsion is that Nakul Nath is indispensable).
The slogan has fuelled speculation about Nakul Nath being positioned by supporters as a potential future face of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, barely two years ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections.
The developments come amid growing discussions over leadership and succession within the state Congress, particularly following remarks by veteran party leader and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh recently.
During his ongoing Ujjain-Ayodhya Satya Sanatan Swabhiman Yatra, Singh reportedly said that Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Jitu Patwari and Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar would lead the party in the 2028 Assembly elections.
His remarks were widely interpreted as an endorsement of the present state leadership and an attempt to put speculation over the party’s future leadership to rest.
The statement also came amid speculation that Singh’s yatra was intended, at least partly, to provide a political platform to his son Jaivardhan Singh, a three-time MLA and former minister.
Patwari, who joined the yatra in Singh’s hometown of Raghogarh in Guna district, responded to Singh’s remarks with a smiling comment: “Singh's money belongs to Jaivardhan, but his political legacy remains with me.”
The remark has since become a talking point in political circles, adding another dimension to the debate over competing political ambitions and leadership claims within the state Congress.
Against this backdrop, Nakul Nath’s independently hosted Bhopal gathering has acquired considerable political significance. The visible mobilisation of Kamal Nath loyalists and the prominent display of Nakul Nath’s photographs suggest an effort to underline his political relevance beyond the family’s traditional stronghold of Chhindwara.
While no formal leadership claim has been made, the event has certainly brought the question of the Congress’s future leadership in Madhya Pradesh back into focus.
With the 2028 Assembly elections approaching, the party appears to be facing an increasingly complex political equation involving the established state leadership, Digvijaya Singh’s political legacy and the influence of the Kamal Nath camp.
Whether Nakul Nath’s Bhopal appearance marks the beginning of a larger political positioning exercise, however, remains to be seen.