Chhattisgarh: Its stock down after Ajit Jogi's death, JCC (J) seeks tie up with tribal parties for upcoming polls

Pushed to margins in binary politics dominated by the Congress and BJP, the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), founded by ex-CM Ajit Jogi, is reaching out to Sarva Adivasi Samaj and Gondwana Gantantra Party who work for tribals for an alliance ahead of the assembly polls in the state. The JCC (J), currently left with one MLA in its fold, has been struggling to remain politically relevant after the death of Ajit Jogi in 2020.

Late Ajit Jogi's son and Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) chief Amit Jogi said he was hoping to tie up with SAS, GGP, other regional parties and social groups to avoid the split of non-Congress and non-BJP votes in the Assembly polls, due later this year.

SAS, an umbrella body of tribal groups in Chhattisgarh, has been gearing up to contest the maiden assembly elections and it is likely to field candidates in the constituencies reserved for ST candidates and in those segments with a considerable tribal population.

However, the SAS has so far not made any announcement for an electoral alliance with any group.

In an interview with PTI, former Marwahi MLA Amit Jogi dismissed the speculation that his party may align or merge with K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

The buzz about such a move started after Jogi junior met the Telangana chief minister in June this year.

He said the ruling Congress and opposition BJP should not doubt his party's performance in the upcoming polls which JCC (J) will contest in the absence of Ajit Jogi. "My father still lives in the heart and mind of 3 crore people of Chhattisgarh," he said.

Ajit Jogi, who headed the Congress government in the state from 2000 to 2003, floated JCC (J) in 2016 after parting ways with the Grand Old Party and contested the 2018 assembly polls in alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Though JCC (J) could not influence the poll outcome but succeeded in making inroads into the state politics, traditionally dominated by the BJP and Congress.

In the 2018 polls, which saw Congress returning to power after a long gap, the Grand Old Party won 68 of total 90 seats, while the BJP finished a distant second at 15. The JCC (J) bagged five segments and its ally BSP 2. Of the total 29 ST constituencies in the Chhattisgarh assembly, 25 were won by Congress, three by BJP, and one by JCC (J).

The JCC (J)'s vote share was 7.6 per cent as it won five seats, hailed as the first-ever significant performance of a regional party in Chhattisgarh. Its alliance partner BSP polled 4.27 per cent votes and bagged two constituencies.

However, after Ajit Jogi's death in May 2020, the Jogi junior is struggling to keep the JCC (J) flock together.

The JCC (J) lost two assembly segments- Marwahi and Khairagarh, in the bypolls held after the death of incumbent MLAs Ajit Jogi and Devvrat Singh. Two other MLAs of JCC (J)– Dharmjeet Singh and Pramod Sharma- were expelled from the party, leaving the party with lone legislator Renu Jogi, wife of late Ajit Jogi, who represents Kota seat.

However, Amit Jogi is confident of performing well in the assembly elections, due later this year, but also knows the limitations of his party.

“I am confident (to perform well) but I am not saying that we will be contesting all by ourselves. We are the only recognized regional party in Chhattisgarh. But at this point in time, I think there are other players. There is GGP and the Sarva Adivasi Samaj working among tribes in Surguja and Bastar divisions, respectively. The Congress and the BJP had tried to cut them down,” he said.

Amit Jogi said we began with seven MLAs (including two of the alliance partner BSP) and now we are reduced to one.

He claimed JCC (J) has been the victim of 'Operation lotus' and 'Operation Panja', an oblique reference to the politics of engineering splits.

'If it (splitting of MLAs) can happen with Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena in Maharashtra when he was the chief minister, then who am I to prevent this from happening here?' he asked.

He exhorted all regional parties and social groups, including GGP and SAS, to come together to avoid a division of non-BJP and non-congress votes.

“We are in talks but whether it (alliance) will materialize or not I don't know. If some party says we will contest all 90 seats, what can I do? I can only make an offer. I am not a godfather that I will make an offer which they cannot refuse. I can only speak in terms of principles,” Amit Jogi said.

He claimed the BJP and Congress are 'happy' that the Jogi senior is not alive.

'But I want to make it clear to them that though Jogi ji is not physically with us he is alive in the heart and mind of 3 crore people of Chhattisgarh and that is our strength,' he added.

According to Amit Jogi, the people of Chhattisgarh are fed up with both national parties.

'People have seen the experience of other states like Telangana which was formed in 2014 and in nine years their per capita income increased from Rs 90,000 to Rs 3.50 lakh. Whereas Chhattisgarh came into existence in 2000, our per capita income rose to Rs 1.17 lakh only in 23 years from Rs 90,000. The difference is because Telangana has a regional party-led government,' the JCC (J) leader said.

Taking a swipe at Congress, Amit Jogi said people in Chhattisgarh want a government whose high command is not based in Delhi.

Queried about the buzz that JCC (J) will merge with BRS, he said, “I met with KCR and other regional party leaders but it does not mean I will merge my party with them. I met them to learn something from their experiences”.

Amit Jogi also hit out at the ruling Congress over the cancellation of caste certificates held by him and his wife.

'As we are tribals, this led to the rejection of our candidature in the bypoll held for the Marwahi assembly seat (a bastion of the Jogi family) in 2020 but we are not confined to any seat. You think that you will deny me an ST seat? I have many other seats including the CM's constituency to contest,' he said.

He said the matter (related to caste certificates) is in the court but the Jogis will fight it out.