AMIT JOGI

'Amit Jogi' is the controversial son of Indian politician Ajit Jogi who was first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and a current Member of Parliament. He studied History at the St. Stephen's College, Delhi [[1]], International Relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru University[[2]] and his now a law student at the Raipur University.
His detractors- both from his father's party Congress as well as the opposition BJP- see him as an incarnation of Sanjay Gandhi who was reputed to have been the high-handed extra-constitutional authority during the Emergency. Amit Jogi handled behind the scene politics during tenure of his father as Chief Minister of Chattisgarh. Amit allegedly masterminded the first- and only- full-scale vertical split of the BJP in Chhattisgarh when 12 MLAs joined the Congress party during his father's chief ministership. Amit's alleged role in causing the dramatic defection of Leader of Opposition's daughter right in the middle of a BJP national convention presided by the then PM Atal Behari Vajpayee was seen directly as an attempt to humiliate him. Needless to say this evoked the ire of the BJP's top leadership. A systematic propaganda campaign was orchestrated particularly in the state's urban areas and through the media to portray him as power-hungry and corrupt. However Amit- the man at the centre of the storm- remained stoically silent, not once speaking to the media about his alleged role as the state's extra-constitutional authority. He came under the gaze of the national media yet again when top leaders of the BJP accused him of being behind the Dilip Singh Judeo exposé in the Indian Express newspaper during Chhattisgarh's assembly election in 2003. Dilip Singh Judeo, a former union minister, who was caught on camera accepting bribes. Less than a month later another he and his father were accused of trying to buy BJP MLAs to destabilize the newly-formed Raman Singh government. In 2005, the CBI chargesheeted him for allegedly masterminding the Judeo Exposé to gain 'political benefit' for his father.[[3]]
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also arrested Amit for allegedly conspiring to murder Ram Avtar Jaggi, a close associate of his father's rival, Vidya Charan Shukla, who was shot dead in June 2003 at Raipur. After having spent ten months in Raipur Central Jail, he was granted bail on 3rd May 2006 by the Chhattisgarh High court. This bail order was subsequently set aside by the Supreme Court of India[[4]] almost a year later on 30th April 2007. On May 31st 2007, Amit Jogi was honourably acquitted of all charges by the Trial court at Raipur. In its findings, the court ruled that Amit was a victim of political vendetta hatched by his father's rival, Vidya Charan Shukla.[[5]]
During his stay in jail, he wrote his jail diary, a play (Chal Bé Kapade Utar)[[6]], and poems, which are due to be published soon. He wants to try his hand at literature. ³ Amit unwittingly appeared and cleared IAS mains twice but did not appear in the interview because he was then a US citizen by birth, a fact that led to further controversy. He is known for his acidic writings, most notably against the state-sponsored Salwa Judum movement, in which more than 2000 tribals have been killed in South Chhattisgarh [[7]].
With Amit's acquittal and his mother, Dr. Renu Jogi's recent entry into the state Vidhan Sabha following her impressive win from the Kota assembly, the Jogis are now arguably the First Political Family of Chhattisgarh.

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References

References

★ If my father is CM, have I taken advantage?, Rediff

★ Amit Jogi to pen a new course, Decan Herald

★ Sonia Faliero, a former classmate, reminiscences, Tehelka

★ Amit Jogi acquitted, The Hindu Frontpage

★ A Flawed Inquiry: Judeo Exposé, Frontline

★ Meet Jogi Jr., playwright post-prison, Indian Express