BHOPAL: Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s recent statements about having offered to resign as the Congress state president and the resignation by national general secretary Deepak Babaria has sparked fresh speculation about who will be the new PCC chief in Madhya Pradesh.
Jyotiraditya Scindia’s name has already started doing rounds in political circles. Scindia loyalists, including MP school education minister Prabhuram Chowdhary, and even senior most state minister Govind Singh said that the former Guna MP would be a better choice as the new PCC chief.
“He (Scindia) is young and experienced also and would take the party to new heights just like present MPCC chief Kamal Nath,” Singh said in response to media queries. Informed sources also said that there is a strong possibility about one of the senior ministers, particularly those close to Nath, becoming the next Congress state chief. Ministers Bala Bachchan, Jeetu Patwari and Umang Shingar, as well as senior leaders Ajay Singh and Ramniwas Rawat, are said to be in the race.
Also, the name of Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha is doing the rounds of the Congress circles. RTI activists Anand Rai, Ashish Chaturvedi and Prashant Pandey, who worked closely with him in exposing the Vyapam scam, have spoken in favour of the senior advocate as the new PCC chief.
Sources added a Cabinet reshuffle cab be expected after the Monsoon Session of the Vidhan Sabha culminates on July 26. Word is that many Congress leaders are likely to resign beginning with four MPCC working presidents Ramniwas Rawat, Surendra Chowdhary, Bala Bachchan and Jeetu Patwari.