Kamleshwar Patel a surprise inclusion in Cong’s new CWC

Bhopal: Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh and former minister of the Kamal Nath government Kamleshwar Patel are part of a revamped Congress Congress Working Committee (CWC) that party president Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Sunday. Former MP from Mandsaur constituency Meenakshi Nataranjan has also found a place in Kharge’s team as a permanent invitee ahead of assebly elections in the state later this year.
Most big political leaders of the state do not feature in the CWC — the party’s top decision team. However, what is surprising is the inclusion of young MLA from Sinhawal assembly seat in Sidhi district, Kamleshwar Patel, when big leaders from the state including Kamal Nath, Suresh Pachauri, Ajay Singh, Kantilal Bhuria, Dr Govind Singh and Vivek Tankha have not been included.
“Why Kamleshwar Patel?” — this question was the murmer among the leaders of the state unit of Congress on Saturday. Some leaders in the party claimed that Kamleshwar Patel has been included to balance the caste factor. He belongs to the Kurmi OBC community which had to get appropriate representation in the CWC because of its predominance in many northern states.
While another section of Congress leaders claimed that Kamleshwar Patel is being projected as the OBC leader of the party in Madhya Pradesh. This has been happening over the past five years when Kamleshwar Patel, despite being a second generation leader was being asked to speak on the OBC reservation issue while leaders like former PCC chief Arun Yadav were kept in the sidelines. Rise of Kamleshwar Patel could also pose a challenge for other prominent leaders in the Vindhya region including former LOP Ajay Singh and former deputy speaker Rajendra Singh.