Mallikarjun Kharge, the national president of the Congress, has announced the immediate appointment of Jitu Patwari as the President of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, thereby replacing the veteran party leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, from the post. This significant decision was communicated through a press note issued by the Congress on Saturday, expressing gratitude for the contributions of the outgoing PCC President, Kamal Nath.
In addition to this leadership change, the official release by the Congress further disclosed the appointments of Umang Shingar as the Leader of the Opposition and Hemant Katare as the deputy leader of the Congress party in the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.
Jitu Patwari, a 49-year-old leader who previously served as an MLA from the Rau seat, was also at the helm of the Madhya Pradesh Congress campaign committee. Having secured re-election from Rau in 2018 for a second term, Patwari assumed the role of Minister of Higher Education, Youth, and Sports Affairs in the Kamal Nath-led government. Notably, in 2020, he was appointed as the chairperson of the state media cell of the Congress by Kamal Nath, a move seen by many within the party as an acknowledgment of his standing with Rahul Gandhi.
However, the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls marked a setback for Patwari, as he lost his stronghold in the Rau seat to Madhu Verma of the BJP, who secured victory with a margin of 35,522 votes.
This strategic reshuffling within the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee comes on the heels of Kamal Nath's assertion, made in his constituency Chhindawara, that he had no intention of retiring from his political journey. He emphatically stated his commitment to remain active in politics, vowing to stand with the people until his last breath, and taking a swipe at the BJP government over potential increases in electricity bills.
The broader context of this leadership transition is set against the backdrop of the November 17 polls, where the BJP retained power in Madhya Pradesh by securing 163 seats in the 230-member Assembly. Meanwhile, the Congress, which had won 114 seats in 2018, witnessed a decline, securing only 66 seats in the recent elections.
