Congress intra-party democracy is first casualty of poor show in state polls
Deccan ChronicleInner-party democracy in the Congress could well prove to be the first casualty of the outcome of the state Assembly elections declared last Sunday. The BJP may be bemoaning the Assembly election results but the party’s failure to dethrone Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal has come as a huge relief for Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Had the party succeeded, his chief rivals in the state — Kailash Vijayvargiya and Narotttam Mishra — would have actively campaigned for Mr Chouhan’s ouster. Mr Vijayvargiya was handpicked by home minister Amit Shah to supervise the West Bengal election while Mishra was also given key responsibilities in the eastern state. While Vasundhara Raje was expected to campaign for the bye-elections in the desert state, newly minted BJP member Mr Scindia was put down for the crucial West Bengal polls.