MP: Congress strikes caste balance; Patwari replaces Nath as state unit chief, Singhar new LoP

Bhopal: The Congress on Saturday appointed 50-year-old Jitu Patwari, who belongs to the Other Backward Classes, as president of the party's Madhya Pradesh unit replacing veteran Kamal Nath.

It appointed former state minister Umang Singhar (48), a tribal, as Congress Legislature Party leader and Hemant Katare (38), a Brahmin, as his deputy.

OBCs constitute 48 per cent of the state's population, and the ruling BJP has had four CMs from the segment since 2003, namely Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and incumbent Mohan Yadav, who was sworn in on December 13.

The Bharatiya Janata Party retained power in the state emphatically winning 163 seats in the 230-member Assembly, polls to which were held on November 17. The Congress had to be content with 66 seats.

Patwari, who is considered close to senior leader Rahul Gandhi, incidentally, lost the recent polls from Rau in Indore. He was minister in the Kamal Nath government between December 2018 and March 2020.

Katare's father Satyadev Katare too has been LoP in the Assembly and has also served as state home minister.

The Congress made the appointments days after BJP's Mohan Yadav, an OBC, was sworn in as CM along with Rajendra Shukla, a Brahmin, and Jagdish Devda, a Dalit, as his deputies.

The press release issued by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal announcing the appointments of Patwari, Katare and Singhar also said the party appreciates the contribution of 77-year-old Kamal Nath.