From the show-cause notices issued recently to about 150 local Congress leaders to explain allegations of anti-party activities during the Assembly polls, to the dissolution of the state Congress working committee last month – the new Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president, Jitu Patwari, 50, seems to have started reshaping the party, even as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership has entrusted him with the responsibility of “freeing” the state unit from the “dominating influence” of its veteran satraps.

According to some Congress insiders, Patwari – who was named the MPCC chief last month following the party’s humiliating defeat by the incumbent BJP in the November 2023 Assembly polls – had been given the task of “breaking various syndicates plaguing the party” in Madhya Pradesh. He has currently been travelling through the entire state, addressing Congress workers in a bid to rejuvenate the party’s youth leadership. However, his attempts, some party leaders say, will not lead to a breakthrough anytime soon.

“Patwari has been trying to balance the old leaders with the young. That is difficult since his task is to break the influence of senior leaders and their syndicates. In the state the two tallest leaders are Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, and their syndicates still thrive. It is going to be a complex operation to reshape the party. No big leader came to his ceremony when he became the president even after youth leaders showed up. Patwari balanced this by showing respect to senior leaders which has irked the Congress high command since they want him to finish off the syndicates,” said a senior party leader.

Adding to the complications for Patwari, a former minister, is the fact that his political career was really launched with the backing of two-time CM Digvijaya Singh, who was said to have played an important role in ensuring that he became the state Youth Congress president. “Patwari tried to contest various local elections and lost. He was then given a chance by Digvijaya Singh. Furthermore, Patwari shares a complicated relationship with ex-CM Kamal Nath over the latter’s interference in the working of Patwari when he was a minister in the Nath Cabinet. If you look at a recent poster from Patwari’s office for a political programme on January 26, all the same leaders have come back and Patwari himself is missing. In the poster, among all the leaders, Digvijaya Singh is highlighted. That is a clear message,” said another senior leader.

A third leader said some changes in the state Congress would be effected after the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “Patwari will change his entire team after the Lok Sabha elections. Currently there is no working committee, there are no responsibilities to leaders to reshape the party. Patwari is touring the state to make his own support base. By that time he is done his tenure will come to an end. There is not much he can do. The organisation is in dire straits after the loss in the Assembly elections – and there is no source of revenue. At least during Kamal Nath’s tenure as the MPCC chief the private jets were flying and sabhas were being organised.”

During his state-wide tours, Patwari has been emphasising on strengthening the organisation at the grassroots level, calling for the youth and women party leaders to take centre stage in state politics. He has also called for the training of block level party workers, especially women activists, before the Lok Sabha elections, looking to galvanise the party’s rank and file before Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra enters Madhya Pradesh.

Ex-Congress MLA from Kalapipal Kunal Chaudhary told The Indian Express, “I was an engineer and was promoted in politics by Patwari. He has the mind for this and has been focusing on propelling the youth leadership. He has the advantage of belonging to a farmers’ family and can connect with the people on the ground.”

Congress candidate from Ratlam Paras Saklecha, who lost the election, said,” Patwari has been travelling the whole state and talking to the ground level workers and he is taking their suggestions. He is also following up on the suggestions. He is planning actively for the Lok Sabha polls. He is trying to bring fire to the organisation, mount attacks against the BJP to show we are not broken. He is currently strategising and studying candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.”