Jogi ko gussa kyon aata hai? His party knows

Jogi ko gussa kyon aata hai? His party knows
YOGESH VAJPEYI

Bhopal, March 8: Chief Minister Ajit Jogi's defiant stand on the Balco issue has more to do with politics than economics. And he is pressing ahead unmindful of the traps he's walking into given the violent history of trade unioinism in Chhattisgarh and the negative signals to potential investors.

Jogi sees in the controversy his chance to establish himself as Chhattisgarh's dharatiputra (son of the soil), something which he hasn't been able to do even after his impressive victory in the Marwahi by-election. And the pressure to do so is as much from within as from his party and rival V C Shukla.

So the moment the disinvestment decision was announced, Jogi sent Korba district Congress Committee president and former MLA Bodharam Kanwar to fish in troubled waters. Kanwar convened a meeting of all trade-union leaders at the Korba office of the AITUC to liven up the four-year-old agitation against Balco's takeover.

Soon, a predominantly Congress meeting was held at Korba in which Jogi himself and Congress MP Charan Das Mahant were the main speakers. Mahant -- who wanted the Chhattisgarh CM's job before Jogi upstaged him -- said that Sonia Gandhi had vehemently opposed Balco's proposed takeover during her last election meeting in Korba. ``The Congress will back the workers with full sincerity,'' he promised.

Waiting in the wings is Shukla. The moment he knew of Jogi's proposed Korba visit, Shukla rushed to take over the leadership of the Balco Bachao Sanyukta Abhiyan Samiti.

To challenge Jogi, he remained ambiguous at first, telling the strikers not to ``misguided'' by vested interests. He has considerable support base in the area, thanks to the Chattisgarh Rajya Sangharsha Morcha that he formed and led just before the formation of the state. And then he stridently argued against the sale trying to rob Jogi's thunder.

Shukla now feels that the ``the agitation against Balco's privatisation should be launched on a non-political platform.'' His speeches have an extra spin: ``Since Balco's products are extensively used by the Defence department, its privatisation will endanger national security.''

But Jogi's battle may backfire on two main counts. Not only does it send a wrong message to potential investors, more disturbing is the prospect of the Balco agitation turning violent. Those familiar with Chattisgarh's violent trade union history remember that seven persons died in police firing on workers of the Bhilai Steel Plant in Dallirajhara during the late 1970's. A year later, another workers' agitation in the Bailadila mines turned violent, resulting in the death of a dozen workers and in 1982, three workers died during the agitation in Rajnandgaon's Bengal Nagpur Cotton Mills. Should this happen, Jogi may find himself in a bind from which he may not be able to wriggle out unscathed.