Caught in its search for a Shubh Muhurat (Auspicious time) to announce the state executive in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress high command has yet again staggered the declaration due to upcoming by-polls in Budhni and Vijaypur.

The Congress party has repeatedly delayed the naming of the state executive body despite the appointment of the state unit chief, Jitu Patwari, over ten months ago.

While the main Opposition attributes the delay to procedural factors, those in the know of things in the party say that the repeated rescheduling of the declaration is caused by rampant groupism in the Congress ranks.

They lament that delays in the constitution of the state executive—Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC)—may soon backfire and result in demotivating party cadres who have contributed wholeheartedly during recent party agitations.

They add that the repeated delays underscore the inner-party politics even if Congress leaders have attributed the bottleneck to assembly elections in Haryana and J&K, and a certain unfavourable period in the Hindu calendar.

Party leaders had maintained that the much-awaited announcement would be made anytime after Dussehra.

Now, with the Election Commission of India scheduling by-polls in Vijaypur and Budhni assembly for November 13, insiders say that there is every possibility that the party central leadership would delay the constitution of the MPCC executive till the declaration of results on November 23.

Amid rumours of the party delaying the MPCC to pre-empt a breakout of faction feuds, Congress leaders say that things within the party have changed after 2018 as Jyotiraditya Scindia and senior party leader Suresh Pachori had a change of heart and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Their claims aside, the politically astute say that the Congress in Madhya Pradesh continues to remain divided in camps. They say that party politics in the state revolves around various satraps that include Digvijay Singh, former chief minister Kamal Nath, former PCC Chief Arun Yadav, PCC chief Jitu Patwari and leader of the opposition in the State Assembly Umang Singhar.

Both Patwari and Singhar have consolidated their hold on the state since their appointment to these important positions.

The sources say that the PCC chief has already sent the list of probable inductees for the MPCC, but the proposal failed to meet approval as it had failed to maintain a caste and regional balance.

State Congress president Jitu Patwari has already said that his executive body would consist of handpicked members and not a melee of leaders like the previous state executive headed by State President Kamal Nath.