The absence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, from a state-wide party agitation on Friday suggested that all may not be well between him and MPCC chief Jitu Patwari.

The state unit of the Congress was agitating to press for a further review of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for soybean.Those fanning the rumors said that former chief minister and Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Bhopal, Digvijay Singh, had also barely completed the formality by joining the agitation in Indore.Senior Congress leaders came out in support of the agitation in the state, with former chief minister Kamal Nath leading the agitation in Chhindwara, and former Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh participating in the tractor rally of farmers in Bhopal.Patwari led the agitation in Indore, with former MPCC chief Arun Yadav; however, conspicuous in his absence was the AICC in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, who stayed away from the protest organized at all district headquarters in the state.

This correspondent tried to contact Singh, but he remained unavailable. His staff said that the leader was present in the national capital and would return to Rajasthan at the conclusion of his visit after two days.

The rumors are only natural, as Singh's visits to Bhopal have been few and far between since Patwari's appointment at the helm of the MPCC. His last few visits were spent convening party meetings in the state. Singh is in charge of Assam and currently holds the additional charge for Madhya Pradesh.

Party insiders say that there are differences between Patwari and Singh.

Perhaps this was the reason why the AICC leader did not join the agitation in the state.Sources in the party state unit say that Singh was in favor of appointing three or four acting state presidents of the party and wanted to include one from the minorities, Dalits, and OBCs, each, in order to reflect demographics in the state.

Factually, Congress had tried this experiment in the past, but the move had failed to find resonance with voters in the state.

Critics of Singh's strategy said that Patwari and Singh have held varying opinions over the matter and claim that the pertinent yet thorny issue has led to a parting of ways between the two leaders.Meanwhile, former chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Digvijay Singh participated in the agitation at Indore but shunned the limelight and prominence at the event. The Congress state unit is agitating across Madhya Pradesh to press for a revision of soybean MSP to Rs. 6,000 per quintal.