Good riddance. Amit Jogi's expulsion will see Congress' revival in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh MLA Amit Jogi's expulsion from the Congress in the controversial tape case is a direct referendum on his father Ajit Jogi, the first chief minister of the state - he has fallen from being the blue-eyed boy of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to a liability now. Jogi Sr's love for an incompetent son is to blame for the change of fate of not only Chhattisgarh's first Congress family, but also of the party there.

The Congress finds itself more or less at the same cusp even at the national level, with party president Sonia Gandhi's love for her not-so-able son Rahul Gandhi. The constant projection of a reluctant leader like Rahul has already cost the party dear. The Congress stands divided over the dynasty issue - while one faction is demanding passing on the baton from Sonia to Rahul, the other wants either the mother to continue or try Priyanka Vadra instead.

While there may be some similarities between the Jogis and Nehru-Gandhis, the differences are also glaring. Unlike Rahul, Jogi Jr has been controversial even before he became politically active. He was jailed in Jaggi murder case. He became infamous for his notoriety and the excesses he committed - such as dictating terms to local media houses when Ajit was the Chhattisgarh chief minister for three years from 2000 to 2003.

Amit's name had also cropped up in the cash-on-camera involving former Union minister Dilip Singh Judeo in 2003. The CBI had charged Amit with hatching the conspiracy to frame Judeo by way of a sting operation. Though Jogi Jr's waywardness was not lost on anyone, Ajit promoted him despite that. This brought infamy to the then Congress government, which has failed to recapture power from Raman Singh's BJP government.

Now, the Chhattisgarh tape row has proved to be the final nail in the coffin leading to Amit's expulsion from the Congress for six years. An audio recording revealed that Amit was purportedly involved in fixing Antagarh Assembly by-election in 2014. The telephone conversations allegedly have taken place between CM Raman Singh's son-in-law Puneet Gupta, the Jogis and some of their loyalists. Congress candidate Manturam Pawar, considered to be close to the Jogis, withdrew from the fray just a day before the last date for withdrawal. Pawar was later expelled from the party.

Jogi Jr is considered close to Rahul and if some friends in the Congress are to be believed, he may be back in the party sooner or later.

But at present, the Jogi duo find themselves at the receiving end. The Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), which had recommended Amit's expulsion, has requested the All India Congress Committee to suspend his father, whose political career has been no less controversial than his son. Whether Jogi Sr belongs to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe category is under dispute.

He had allegedly tried to bribe some BJP MLAs after the 2003 Assembly elections when the Congress had lost the election. A sting operation alleged that Ajit had promised Congress' support to a BJP breakaway faction. However, his designs were exposed by the BJP and the Congress faced a major embarrassment.

Now, as Jogi Jr stands expelled and his father-cum-mentor is on the brink of facing a similar disciplinary action, the Chhattisgarh Congress faces a major challenge of reinventing itself. So far, the state unit has not been able to get out of the shadows of the Jogis, who are the most popular leaders in the party, particularly after the death of top party leadership such as then state unit president Nand Kumar Patel, Mahendra Karma and former Union minister VC Shukla in the May 2013 Maoist attack.

The disciplinary action is unlikely to be taken lightly by the Jogis. They may form a regional party or a front to take on the Congress, try to split the state unit or even collude with the BJP to take get back at their own party.

But the new leadership under state Congress president Bhupesh Baghel has chances to revive the unit. It may face an uphill task in neutralising the Jogis and erect a unit which can take on the Raman Singh government which has been in power for 12 years now. But if the latest episode is any indication, time seems to have run out for the Jogis, at least for a while.