Madhusudan Mistry shines in Cong's victory

As the Karnataka Assembly election results kept pouring in on Wednesday morning, the man of the moment at the AICC office on 24, Akbar Road in New Delhi was Madhusudan Mistry.

Surrounded by media persons and senior Congress leaders, the former Gujarat MP from Sabarkantha was busy accepting congratulatory messages for most part of the day.

As AICC general secretary, Mistry is in-charge of Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep since 2010.

With Congress achieving a landslide victory, the low-profile tribal from Gujarat is being credited for the grand old party’s turnaround in the difficult southern state. For the last two years, Mistry has been nearly obsessed with Karnataka. “As the BJP crumbled with the fiasco of BS Yeddyurappa’s mining scandal, Congress patiently and strategically built its cadres’ strength to maximise the opportunity. Mistry was instrumental in keeping the Congress forces together in the battle and identifying candidates with local party leaders,” a source close to him in New Delhi said.

Though a thorough-bred tribal leader, Mistry was largely uninvolved in Gujarat Assembly elections last year. Even during the polling days in December 2012, Mistry was talking about Karnataka elections, spending at least a week in these southern states every month in the last couple of years. “Watch out for Karnataka,” he had said confidently, as early as January 2012.

Though Karnataka was in the news throughout Wednesday, the soft spoken politician had tasted first victory in Kerala elections in 2011. Though he had devoted little time in building the Congress party in God’s own country, Indian National Congress (INC)-led United Democratic Front snatched power from the ruling Left Democratic Front, albeit with a thin majority in Kerala Assembly.

As many analysts too have observed the Karnataka election results more as a loss of BJP rather than a victory for Congress. However, within the party, Mistry’s efforts are being appreciated. “This is a good boost for him politically,” the source said.

In 2009, Mistry lost from the much-nurtured Sabarkantha Lok Sabha seat in North Gujarat after a focused attack by Narendra Modi; aided by Congress’s factional politics as well. In March 2011, Mistry was made AICC general secretary, and included in Congress’s most powerful decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

Recently, he was included in Rahul Gandhi’s core co-ordination committee consisting five members who work as eyes and ears of the Gandhi scion ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. They scout the grassroots for candidates and issues for Gandhi to take up. Sources in Gujarat Congress believe he will contest Sabarkantha seat again in 2014 polls, and if not hindered by internal party politics, may win.

Mistry, who joined Congress with Shankersinh Vaghela in mid-’90s, has carved a political career totally independent from his mentor, though as the leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly, Vaghela is still battling internal politics of state Congress.