A formidable leader and pivot of tribal politics dead at 74

RAIPUR: Ajit Pramod Jogi, the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh, who died on Friday at the age of 74, was the pivot of tribal and dalit politics in the state carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000.He emerged as a formidable political force in the tribal-dominated state he led for three years from November 2000 heading a Congress government.

Jogi always nursed the ambition of becoming a civil servant. Brilliant in studies, Jogi went on to study mechanical engineering in Bhopal before joining the Indian Police Service.While training in Mussoorie, he realized IAS officers tended to treat officers of other services with condescension. He joined IAS in 1971, getting the eighth rank in the examination. He served as a collector for 12 years. He was sent to the Rajya Sabha twice , in 1986-92 and 1992-98.

It was when he was serving as the collector in Raipur that Jogi became acquainted with Rajiv Gandhi, who was then a pilot. “When he came to Raipur , I visited him at airport...We used to talk for hours in the VIP lounge of Raipur airport,” Jogi told this reporter in 2018.

Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India in 1984 after his mother Indira was assassinated. In 1986, the Congress needed a tribal face to represent it in the Rajya Sabha and party leader Digvijay Singh suggested Jogi’s name. Within a day, Jogi entered politics.

Owing to his intellect and political acumen, Jogi rose in the ranks and became party spokesman and when Chhattisgarh was created in 2000 became its first chief minister.

After defeat in the 2003 assembly elections, he became the centre of controversies.The BJP released a tape purportedly to show he tried to break the party’s Chhattisgarh unit by bribing its MLAs. As the Congress candidate in the 2004 parliamentary election from Mahasamund against V C Shukla, who contested on a BJP ticket, Jogi entered the Lok Sabha. It was during the campaign that he met with a road accident that left him wheelchair-bound.

He parted ways with the Congress in 2016 after he and his son were alleged to have fixed a byelection.In June that year, he formed the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J).

In the 2018 assembly elections Jogi won from Marwahi. He suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this month and had been in a comatose state.He is survived by his wife Renu Jogi, an MLA, and son Amit.

Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel announced three days of state mourning for Jogi, who will be cremated with full state honours. “The death of the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Shri Ajit Jogi is a major political loss for the state of Chhattisgarh. He will live on in the memories of all the people of the state,” tweeted Baghel.