Chhattisgarh health minister TS Singh Deo on another ‘personal visit’ to Delhi

Singh Deo, however, did not rule out the possibility of meeting some senior Congress leaders in the national capital.

Amid reports of power-sharing formula between Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and state’s health minister TS Singh Deo, the latter reached Delhi on Monday again.

Singh Deo further said that everything is normal in Chhattisgarh and all the issues that were there have been resolved. (@TS_SinghDeo/Twitter)

Singh Deo called it a ‘personal visit’ and did not rule out the possibility of meeting some senior Congress leaders in the national capital.

“It is completely a personal tour. I have come to Delhi for my sister’s birthday. As you know, none of the party high commands is here,” he stated while addressing the media when he reached Delhi airport on Monday.

Singh Deo further said that everything is normal in Chhattisgarh and all the issues that were there have been resolved.

Functionaries close to Singh Deo also said he was on a personal visit and will return on Wednesday. “There is a family function in Delhi which he will attend on Tuesday. There is nothing political as of now,” said a close aide of Singh Deo.

On August 28, emerging after a long meeting with the Congress high command on suggestions that he should move aside because of a reported two and a half year power-sharing agreement with colleague TS Singh Deo, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel seemed to have bought some time. He said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would visit the state the next week, especially Bastar, to review the work that was being done.

The next day, when Singh Deo returned, he said that he had spoken to the leadership too and they had kept a “decision safe”.

In December 2018, in the aftermath of a dominant Congress performance where the party won 68 of 90 seats, even as the party’s Delhi leadership sought to put out leadership fires in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh emerged as a problem too. Four state leaders, Baghel, home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, speaker Charan Das Mahant and Singh Deo flew to Delhi, all eyeing the chief minister’s post.

As Mahant settled for speaker’s post, friction between Baghel and Singh Deo meant that Sahu first emerged as the frontrunner, but pushed by the idea that a third leader would take the top position, Baghel and Singh Deo, along with Punia and Gandhi, reportedly arrived at a power-sharing arrangement.