Bhopal: The All India Congress Committee Saturday named Jitu Patwari as the President of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), replacing veteran leader and former chief minister Kamal Nath.
The 50-year-old OBC leader, often termed as the “rising star” in the Congress, was made the party’s working president in 2018 when Kamal Nath was appointed as the President of MP Congress Committee. This was followed by Patwari being named as the chairperson of the party’s state media cell, which allowed him to hold press conferences in Bhopal.
He’s also considered close to Rahul Gandhi, according to party insiders — a place he is believed to have earned a few years ago. In 2017, after five farmers were reportedly killed in police firing in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district, Rahul Gandhi visited the town on a motorcycle, riding pillion behind Patwari. Their bike was stopped by the police, but that incident is said to have established Patwari as one among Rahul Gandhi’s close circle.
He was also a convenor of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra along with Digvijay Singh. He’s, however, seen neither as being in Singh’s camp, nor Kamal Nath’s.
Gandhwani MLA Umang Singhar, the Congress’s tribal face from the state, was named as the Leader of Opposition. Singhar was the forest minister under Kamal Nath-led Congress government. Meanwhile, Hemant Katare is the new deputy leader.
On 7 March, 2022, Patwari courted controversy after he called for a boycott of an address given by governor Mangubhai Patel on the opening day of the budget, but was, according to news reports, not backed by Congress leaders. A Congress leader requesting anonymity told ThePrint, “It was then that Shivraj Singh Chouhan had told Patwari that I have an entire file on you, to which Patwari had retorted saying ‘aapko jitni file kholni hai khol lijiye’.”
In the assembly elections this year, despite his attacks at Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in the state over charges of corruption in induction of revenue officers, Patwari lost by a margin of 35,000 votes to BJP’s Madhu Verma.
Also read: Son of a tea-bhajiya seller, ex-ABVP activist, BJP minister — meet Mohan Yadav, the next chief minister of MP
Patwari’s political journey
Son of a farmer, Patwari is from Rau near Indore in Malwa region. He first entered politics after being elected as the member of zila panchayat in his village.
According to a close associate of Jitu Patwari, while the village elders had approached his father to become a member, he asked his son to contest the election in his place.
Patwari, who studied law from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore, was active as a leader in the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress. After being elected as the zila panchayat member, Patwari was made the President of the Youth Congress in Madhya Pradesh in 2008. During his tenure as president, he toured the entire state, energising the Congress’s youth cadre and holding several protests across the state.
He is often described as an ‘aakramak leader’ (aggressive leader) who is not afraid of taking on the opposition head-on.
In 2013, Patwari was given an assembly ticket from Rau. He won from the seat that year and then again in 2018 when the Congress came to power. After the Congress formed the government in 2018, Patwari was named the minister for higher education, youth and sports affairs.
After Jyotiraditya Scindia defected with his 22 loyalist MLAs in 2020, Patwari was asked to bring them back. He first went to Delhi and Gurugram to bring back the MLAs and then to Bengaluru where the Congress defectors were camping.
Speaking to ThePrint, senior Congress leader Paras Saklecha said, “Jitu Patwari is an energetic leader who is absolutely devoted to the Congress. He will carry forward the work of senior leaders who held the party before him and take Congress to greater heights.”
Jitu Patwari is an early riser and is up at 6 am daily. He regularly cycles and makes time for farming whenever he can.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Rajnath in Rajasthan, Khattar in MP, Munda in Chhattisgarh: How BJP chose observers for CM selection