Congress battles factions ahead of MP’s Datia by-election
With the July 30 by-election to Madhya Pradesh’s Datia Assembly constituency fast approaching, the Congress finds itself balancing electoral strategy with internal party dynamics, even as both the Congress and the BJP are yet to announce their candidates.
The bypoll, necessitated by the disqualification of former Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti following his conviction in a decades-old bank fraud case, has emerged as a crucial political contest in the Gwalior-Chambal region.
While nominations close on July 13, the Congress leadership continues to deliberate over a candidate capable of retaining the seat without triggering factional unrest.
In a significant political development, Rajendra Bharti has publicly conveyed to the party leadership that his family need not be considered for the ticket if the Congress identifies a stronger candidate. He said he would campaign wholeheartedly for any nominee chosen by the party and work to ensure the party’s victory.
Speaking over the phone, Bharti said the final decision had been left entirely to the party high command. “It is not necessary that I or my family contest. If the party finds a better candidate, I will support that person with full commitment,” he said.
His statement is widely being viewed as an attempt to project party loyalty at a time when the Congress is trying to avoid a repeat of the internal discord witnessed during the 2023 Assembly elections. In that election, the party had initially declared former Textbook Corporation Vice-Chairman Avdhesh Nayak as its candidate before replacing him with Rajendra Bharti following strong opposition from Bharti’s supporters.
With Bharti now stepping back from pressing his family’s claim, two names have emerged prominently in Congress circles — Avdhesh Nayak and two-time former MLA Ghanshyam Singh. Party leaders also indicate that a candidate from the Other Backward Classes could be considered if the leadership believes it would improve the party’s electoral prospects.
Political observers believe Bharti’s statement serves multiple purposes. It helps present him as a disciplined party leader willing to place organisational interests above personal ambition, while also reducing the possibility of resistance from rival aspirants during the ticket selection process. At the same time, his political past adds another dimension to the calculations. Bharti has previously switched parties after being denied a ticket and has served as an MLA on a Samajwadi Party ticket, making the Congress leadership cautious about managing competing interests within the organisation.
The bypoll itself was triggered after Bharti lost his Assembly membership following his conviction in a bank fraud case dating back to 1998. The case relates to alleged manipulation of a fixed deposit at the Datia Cooperative Rural Development Bank, where investigators alleged that bank records were altered to extend the tenure of an FD from three years to 15 years, enabling withdrawal of interest over several years. Bharti, who was then associated with the bank’s management, was among those prosecuted.
On April 1, a special MP-MLA court in Delhi convicted Bharti in the 28-year-old case. A day later, the court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Although the court granted him time to appeal, the conviction remained in force.
For the Congress, the election is more than a routine bypoll. It is a test of its ability to manage factional equations while retaining a constituency it won in 2023. Candidate selection will be critical, as the party seeks to avoid alienating influential local leaders and maintain organisational unity.
Under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, read with the Supreme Court’s landmark Lily Thomas vs Union of India judgment, any legislator sentenced to two years or more stands immediately disqualified unless the conviction itself is stayed by a higher court. Acting under these provisions, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Secretariat declared Bharti’s membership vacant with effect from April 2 and informed the Election Commission, leading to the bypoll.
For the Congress, the election is more than a routine bypoll. It is a test of its ability to manage factional equations while retaining a constituency it won in 2023. Candidate selection will be critical, as the party seeks to avoid alienating influential local leaders and maintain organisational unity.
The BJP, meanwhile, has also kept its cards close to its chest and is yet to announce its nominee. The delay by both major parties suggests they are carefully weighing caste equations, local leadership strengths and electoral arithmetic before finalising their candidates.
With the nomination deadline nearing, the focus is now firmly on candidate selection, which could determine not only the tenor of the campaign but also the balance of political influence in one of Madhya Pradesh’s closely watched bypolls.
