Amit Jogi: In father’s footsteps

Mahasamund (Chhattisgarh), April 12: He has been dubbed the Sanjay Gandhi of Chhattisgarh, responsible for the downfall of his father, former chief minister Ajit Jogi. Now, Amit Jogi has the task of spearheading a campaign for his father, who is recuperating in a Mumbai hospital after a near fatal road accident yesterday.

Like Sanjay of the 1974-77 era, 28-year-old Amit has been blamed for everything that went wrong under the Ajit Jogi administration from 2000 to 2003. Congress members of Chhattisgarh, recovering from the shock of yesterday’s accident, wonder if Amit would be able to emulate Sanjay, who fought back to ensure Indira Gandhi’s return to power in 1980.

A day after the accident, the Congress and the BJP have begun assessing the political impact of Ajit Jogi’s injury. The accident has hit the Congress as Ajit Jogi may not be able to campaign for the April 20 elections.

Ajit Jogi’s injury has not brought cheer to the rival camp. BJP nominee V.C. Shukla’s entire political campaign revolved around Ajit Jogi’s alleged misdeeds, but now his supporters are having second thoughts about this strategy. They feel it may not be prudent to target the injured Ajit Jogi with the same intensity. The Shukla think-tank is now waiting and watching to see what move Amit makes.

A history graduate from Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, Amit has the reputation of making news for all the wrong reasons. Within days of Ajit Jogi assuming power in Raipur, there were rumours of Amit emerging as a power centre.

Towards the fag end of Ajit Jogi’s stint as chief minister, the murmurs became louder. There were reports, sometimes exaggerated, that Amit could influence policy, administration and the Congress organisation. Initially, Ajit Jogi dismissed the talk as “rumours”. But, after losing power, he began to admit candidly that Amit’s overt involvement was uncalled for — though he steadfastly maintained there were no acts of omission or commission.

Ajit Jogi’s supporters said there was little the former chief minister could have done. A large section of party leaders, moneybags and bureaucrats tried to influence Amit even when he tried to be indifferent. Amit, they said, slowly got sucked into the vicious cycle.

Ajit Jogi began to view his son as a reliable counsel and someone who could share his burden of matters pertaining to the Congress organisation. He saw potential in his son who had been an office-bearer of the National Students’ Union of India at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University where he was a student of international relations.

After his post-graduation, Amit sat for IAS in an attempt to follow in his father’s footsteps but did not qualify.

There were several revelations at this juncture that caused acute embarrassment to the then chief minister. It was discovered that Amit, who was born in the US and was a citizen of that country, had wrongly procured a Scheduled Tribe certificate. Then came the Dilip Singh Judeo cash-on-tape scandal that resulted in Ajit Jogi’s expulsion from the Congress and nearly ruined his political career.

Amit’s college friends view him as a jovial person who happened to earn the reputation of a villain in the political arena. Amit’s passion, they said, is good food. As one of his friends recalled: “He is an amazing character. When he is having lunch, he is thinking about what he will have for dinner!”

Ajit Jogi stable

The condition of Ajit Jogi is stable, according to doctors attending on him. The former Chhattisgarh chief minister was operated upon last night.