Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi has raised the banner of revolt against the Congress, hinting he will form a separate party, the announcement for which will most likely be made on June 6.

Jogi's announcement came immediately after signs within the Congress pointed towards vice-president Rahul Gandhi's take over. Jogi's relationship with Gandhi has been strained for some time.

Sources say Jogi has been mulling a break ever since he didn't receive positive signals from Gandhi about the re-entry of his son Amit Jogi to the Congress.

THE SINS OF THE SON



Amit was dismissed from the party when a tape featuring him and Ajit Jogi 'fixing' the Antagarh by poll was made public in January. Amit dismissed by the state unit of Congress but the central unit of the party had not taken a call on the dismissal.

Also, the state unit had asked the party's disciplinary committee for Ajit Jogi's expulsion too, but the central unit had not taken a call on that either.

THE RIFT WITH RAHUL



Ajit Jogi had been making rounds of Delhi to get Amit's expulsion revoked but is learnt to have not been granted time to meet Rahul Gandhi. Finding himself hemmed in, on Wednesday, when news about Rahul's elevation as Congress president started doing the rounds, Ajit Jogi announced his decision to move away from the Congress.

When he was asked if he would go to Delhi to iron out differences, Jogi Sr. said 'not anymore' and he will decide what is to be done in Raipur and retorted by saying, "Speaking to the central leadership was akin to 'bhains ke aage been bajana' or playing a flute to a buffalo (pointless exercise).

The father son duo have been touring Chattisgarh the last 2 months, gauging the response of the people and assessing the viability of an independent political outfit.

A POINTLESS EXERCISE?



The jury is still out on whether Ajit Jogi forming a new political party will adversely impact the Congress.

Ajit Jogi's game plan, in the immediate term, say political analysts, is to mar the chances for the Congress' return to power in 2018 although officially he has maintained that the reason for him forming his own political party is to challenge the Raman Singh led BJP government which the PCC president and leader of opposition have failed to do.

In the long term, Jogi hopes to become a viable state level leader on the lines of Mamata Bannerjee or Sharad Pawar.

Jogi is said to enjoy widespread support among the Satnami community which is around 12% of the electorate. He needs the support of 12 of the 36 Congress MLAs to be recognized in the assembly as a separate party. He does have the support of more than 12 MLAs but what remains to be seen is whether they would join him on June 6 .

A number of former MLAs are likely to join Jogi's new outfit.

The action will shift to Marwahi, Amit Jogi's constituency where on June 6, Ajit Jogi is expected to announce the new political party.