Ajit Jogi
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A brief biography
Most of the 16 years that he lived after a calamitous accident during poll campaigning left him paralysed. Ajit Jogi survived through sheer willpower. A lesser person would have succumbed long ago. As fate would have it, the accident caused serious permanent injury but left his razor sharp mind intact, full of guile, strategem and an unquenched lust for life.
A bureaucrat who found his mooring in politics, Jogi, 74, was an engineer by training. But conventional pursuits would never be his calling. He found the subtleties of politics, its labyrinthine twists and power plays absorbing and felt therein lay fulfilment of personal ambition. He was, to begin with, a useful aide de camp. During the P V Narasimha Rao regime, he skilfully managed the media and kept the ruling camp off balance with regular reports of dozens of Congress MPs signing support for rebel leader Arjun Singh. A restless man, Jogi parted ways with Singh, accusing him of backing Digvijay Singh as Madhya Pradesh CM instead of Subash Yadav. He once wheedled a hint out of the taciturn Rao that Congress veterans hit by the “hawala scam” would be denied Lok Sabha tickets by disarmingly describing himself as the then PM’s “man”. “Apne logon ko to bata dijiye,” he is understood to have said.
All this did not prevent him from emerging as a key aide and spokesperson when Sitaram Kesri replaced Rao as party chief, with his ‘backward’ sympathies coming into play. Indeed, Jogi was a persuasive and articulate party spokesperson for more than one Congress chief. He was comfortable in English and Hindi and had a certain charm and suave presence that influenced the listener. He had a wry sense of humour and could throw back his head and have a good laugh.
His crowning moment and darkest hour came when he persuaded Sonia Gandhi to despatch him to Chhattisgarh as its first CM. Here he displayed an unsuspected penchant for strong arm tactics and his love for son Amit proved an Achilles heel. Amit got embroiled in criminal cases and Jogi couldn’t bring himself to do any more than reprimand him gently.
The disappearance of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) inquiry report about his alleged caste fudging remains a mystery. He had friends in all parties and though his Adivasi status remained an issue, he never let it catch up with him.
Is he a tribal?
2019: Committee says, No; HC upholds his son’s ST status
August 28, 2019: The Times of India
Panel: Ajit Jogi isn’t Adivasi, doesn’t deserve ST benefits
In a major setback to former CM Ajit Jogi, a highpower caste scrutiny committee in Chhattisgarh has rejected his claim of being a tribal — a decision that could lead to cancellation of all his caste certificates and have significant political implications.
The committee has arrived at the conclusion that Jogi — founder of Janata Congress — doesn’t belong to an Adivasi community and is not entitled to related benefits, said sources. More than a third of Chhattisgarh’s electorate is tribal, and Jogi represents the Marwahi (ST-reserved) constituency. Describing the caste scrutiny panel as ‘Bhupesh high-power committee’, Jogi said: “It’s a wrong decision. I am yet to get a copy of the report. It will be challenged in court.”
“It is apparent that the committee acted on the guidelines of CM Bhupesh Baghel. The HC has found in a case that my son Amit is a Kanwar tribal of Mudi Gotra. But the high power committee’s finding is that his father is not a tribal,” Jogi said, adding: “I think I’m the only person who doesn’t have a caste. As per high power panel, am not a Kanwar tribal but they have not said what’s my caste.”
News of the committee’s report was leaked on social media on Monday, and it is yet to be tabled. A government spokesperson refused to confir m or deny the report. Ajit Jogi’s son Amit, Janata Congress state chief, said: “I came to know from media that a high power caste scrutiny committee, set up by the Bhupesh Baghel government has passed an order.We’ve moved HC against the committee, raising various points.”
