Raipur, Oct. 13: The man held responsible by many in the Congress for the party?s poor electoral show in Chhattisgarh has got a Dussehra gift from Sonia Gandhi.

The party high command on Tuesday appointed Charan Das Mahant acting president of the state unit, much to the disappointment and annoyance of the rival camp led by former chief minister Ajit Jogi.

Within Congress circles, Mahant is accused of allowing the BJP to strengthen its base in the state during his tenure as working president.

Mahant is ?affiliated? to the camp represented by leaders like AICC treasurer Motilal Vora, leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shyama Charan Shukla.

While Vora was holding additional charge of the state Congress chief, Mahant managed the affairs of the party as its working president due to the former?s engagements in Delhi. His tenure in office was marred by a series of defeats ? right from the Lok Sabha elections last year to the recent panchayat polls.

Of the 11 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress had managed to win only one ? Mahasamund ? where Jogi defeated heavyweight politician Vidya Charan Shukla. Mahant himself had lost the elections from Janjgir.

?But Jogi paid the price as the high command ignored his sentiments while appointing Mahant,? Jogi?s spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told The Telegraph.

The former chief minister opposed the candidature of Mahant tooth and nail, accusing him of ruining the party?s prospects. But Vora managed to turn the tide in Mahant?s favour.

?Nominating Mahant just to ignore and marginalise Jogi was not good for the organisation?s health as the former has proved to be a failed leader,? said a senior Congress leader known to keep equal distance from both the camps. Even if the high command wanted to sideline Jogi, he added, the choice should not have been Mahant.

A close aide of Jogi and a former state minister said on condition of anonymity that the Congress was heading for ?the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh way? with the appointment of Mahant.

?The Congress?s graph declined in both the states as the popular leaders were ignored. The same will be repeated in Chhattisgarh,? he warned.

The leader with hardly five supporters is the state party chief while Mahendra Karma, who has only three MLAs in his camp, is the leader of Opposition, another Congress member said.

The Congress?s ?performance? as the main Opposition party in Chhattisgarh could be gauged from the fact that it has not organised a major movement against the BJP government in the past two years, he rued.

?There were many issues, including the government?s failure to distribute cows to tribals and implement development programmes. Even the House committee probe into the Mowa paddy scam was not used by the Congress to grill the government. Thanks to the non-performance of the party, all major issues have been buried,? the leader said.