As the Congress struggles to regain political ground in Madhya Pradesh, an internal dispute within the party's media department has come to light, exposing sharp factionalism and coordination gaps within the state unit.
The controversy centres on the party's proposed talent hunt programme for selecting state spokespersons.
A disagreement between the Media Department Chairman and former minister Mukesh Nayak and the department in-charge Abhay Tiwari escalated to the point that Nayak resigned from his post.
However, the party has rejected his resignation.
Organisational General Secretary Sanjay Kamle issued an order stating, "As per the instructions of Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitu Patwari, your resignation from the post of Media Department Chairman is rejected. You are expected to actively fulfil your responsibilities as before for the strengthening of the organisation."
On December 9, Congress organisation in-charge Sanjay Kamle constituted an 11-member committee for the talent hunt. Abhay Tiwari was appointed chairman of the committee, while Mukesh Nayak's name did not figure in the list.
Subsequently, on December 23, Mukesh Nayak issued another order related to the talent hunt, appointing Abhay Tiwari as convener and MLA Arif Masood as co-convener, and assigning cluster-wise responsibilities to various leaders.
However, Abhay Tiwari objected to Nayak's order and issued a letter nullifying it.
In his letter, Tiwari stated that Nayak's December 23 order was invalid as it lacked proper approval and authority.
"The order issued by Media Department Chairman Mukesh Nayak on December 23 is nullified due to lack of proper approval and authority. The Talent Hunt Committee is not under any department but is constituted under the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee. The distribution of its work is permitted only by the competent authority," Tiwari wrote.
Following the dispute, Mukesh Nayak sent his resignation to state Congress Chief Jitu Patwari, stating that he was stepping down voluntarily.
"Yesterday, in the management committee meeting, I appealed that older members should make way for new ones. I voluntarily resign from my position. It was a good experience working with a very hardworking, honest, and capable chairman for two years. My best wishes," Nayak wrote in his resignation letter.
Interestingly, the list issued by Nayak had earlier been shared on social media by the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari, who congratulated the appointees. However, after the controversy erupted, both the party handle and Patwari deleted their posts.
The BJP seized on Nayak's resignation to attack the Congress leadership.
MP BJP media in-charge Ashish Usha Agrawal posted a sharp comment on X, stating that the incident reflected factionalism, nepotism, and a crisis of trust within the Congress organisation.
