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Arjun Singh and Jagannath Mishra Removed From CM Post: The dispute between CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar is at its peak in Karnataka. Even the Congress high command is not able to take any clear decision. But, there was a time when the same high command of Congress used to change the CM every few hours. He had removed a powerful leader like Arjun Singh from the post within a few hours of making him the CM of Madhya Pradesh. Similarly, in Bihar, Jagannath Mishra was also removed from the post of CM by Indira Gandhi in one stroke.
Arjun Singh and Jagannath Mishra Removed From CM Post: Amidst the ongoing conflict between CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar in Karnataka, it has become clear that Rahul Gandhi’s Congress high command has now lost its nerve. Otherwise, there was a time when the Congress high command used to change its CMs like flies from milk. The latest dispute between Siddaramaiah and DK is nothing new for Rahul Gandhi’s Congress. In the last decade or so, there have been many such occasions when the Congress high command appeared completely paralyzed. Let’s start from Madhya Pradesh, where the high command failed in bringing about a reconciliation between Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was a contender for the post of CM in Congress at that time.
Then in Rajasthan, the dispute between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot led to the loss of the government. It was Ashok Gehlot who saved his government on his own. A similar situation was seen in Chhattisgarh. Bhupesh Baghel became CM in 2018 but during his entire tenure, conflicts with TSC Dev caused huge losses to the party. As a result, the Congress government was ousted from there in 2023. In all these incidents, the high command of Rahul Gandhi’s Congress has proved to be a continuous failure.
The high command was once very powerful
Now let’s explore a little history. Congress High Command was once a very powerful thing. He had seen his Chief Ministers thrown out like flies in milk. Today we give you two such examples. The first example is from Madhya Pradesh. Where a strong leader like Arjun Singh used to be the CM. Arjun Singh became CM on 9 February 1980. It was during his tenure that the Bhopal gas tragedy occurred on the night of 2-3 December. More than three thousand people were officially killed in this. Whereas in all the claims it was said that 15 to 25 thousand people had died in that incident. Within just four days of this incident, owner Anderson was released from the accused company and sent abroad.
The fight in Karnataka has now reached Delhi court.
Arjun Singh removed from CM post in one day
Despite this incident, Congress again won the state in the 1985 assembly elections. He became CM again but only for a day. Rajiv Gandhi removed him from the post of CM. However, many claims are made regarding this. According to a report in The Hindu newspaper of that time, action was taken against Arjun Singh for driving away Warren Anderson, but the real reason was the dissatisfaction growing within the party. However, he then became CM in March 1988. Stayed on this post for about a year.
Well-known journalist Rashid Kidwai has made some claims regarding this incident in one of his books. He has written that while returning from Bhopal in 1985, Rajiv Gandhi was angry and as soon as he reached Delhi airport, he issued an order to remove Arjun Singh. That means, within 24 hours, Arjun Singh was ousted from the post of CM.
Same thing happened in Bihar also
Now let us come to the incident in Bihar. In Bihar, Indira Gandhi made her brother Jagannath Mishra the CM under the pressure of public sentiment after the huge dissatisfaction and murder of senior party leader Lalit Narayan Mishra. He was made CM on 11 April 1975, before the Emergency. After the victory of Janata Party in 1977, he stepped down from the post of CM. Then after the landslide victory of Congress in 1980, he became the CM and remained CM till 14 March 1983. Similarly, during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to Patna, he was removed from the post of CM within 24 hours on a minor issue. After this, Congress won the elections held in Bihar in 1989 and Jagannath Mishra became the CM, but within just four days, Rajiv Gandhi removed him from the post.
Overall, this custom of changing CM within 24 hours is not new in the Congress party. This was seen whenever the party high command was strong. Even during the UPA tenure when Sonia Gandhi was the party president, CMs were changed in many states, but now the Congress high command has lost its status. He no longer has the power to effectively deal with regional satraps.
