A fresh political undercurrent emerged in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday after Sajjan Singh Verma, the senior Congress leader responsible for monitoring the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State, did not attend the high-level review meeting convened at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi. His absence, despite the presence of leaders directly steering the SIR process, has triggered renewed discussion on internal alignments within the State unit.
Verma, who heads the committee tasked with overseeing SIR operations in Madhya Pradesh, was expected to join the meeting led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. However, he remained in Bhopal to attend former Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s birthday celebration. When contacted by The Pioneer, Verma said he had to participate in Nath’s event at the Shyamla Hills residence, as it was pre-scheduled. He did not clarify whether he had been formally invited to the Delhi session, leaving room for speculation over communication and coordination within the party.
His decision gains significance because of the shifting relationship between the two leaders. After the 2023 Assembly elections, Verma and Kamal Nath were not on favourable terms, and the distance between the two was evident across party forums. But recent developments indicate that the equation has changed once again. Verma’s presence at Nath’s birthday gathering, and the warmth observed between the two, signal a renewed alignment in the upper tier of the State’s Congress leadership.
Meanwhile, leaders who are not directly involved in implementing the SIR exercise in Madhya Pradesh attended the Delhi review meeting. State Congress president Jitu Patwari, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Umang Singhar and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh represented the MP unit, carrying detailed data and status reports.
The meeting also included KC Venugopal and senior members of the Congress Election Commission Department.
Patwari briefed the national leadership on the operational structure created for SIR in Madhya Pradesh. He informed that 9,600 leaders have been deployed as booth-level agents, covering the entire grid from Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies down to municipal and panchayat seats.
These individuals include senior party workers and former candidates, reflecting Congress’s attempt to tighten scrutiny at the booth level amid concerns over discrepancies in voter lists.
The Delhi session focused on aligning strategy and execution across 12 States where SIR is underway. With Madhya Pradesh flagged as one of the more sensitive regions, the central leadership emphasised accuracy, verification discipline and accountability in fieldwork.
However, Verma’s absence overshadowed the otherwise procedural meeting. His decision to prioritise a political-social engagement in Bhopal over a national-level organisational review suggests that personal and factional equations continue to influence decision-making inside the MP Congress. For a party attempting to consolidate its structure during a critical electoral roll revision exercise, these signals matter.