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‘Not made up my mind on contesting upcoming polls’: Chhattisgarh health minister
Chhattisgarh health minister TS Singh Deo said his mind was not set on fighting the elections like it used to be earlier
Chhattisgarh health minister TS Singh Deo, who has been locked in a power tussle with chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, said on Thursday that his “mind was not set on fighting the elections like it used to be earlier.” The comments came with the assembly elections are less than a year away in Chhattisgarh, one of the three states where the Congress is in power. Singh Deo is a legislator from Ambikapur in north Chhattisgarh.
When the Congress won the assembly elections in 2018 defeating the Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Singhdeo was one the claimants for the chief ministership of the state. In hectic negotiations immediately after the results were declared, Singh Deo’s side maintained that a power sharing agreement with Baghel was reached in consonance with the Congress high command, with both leaders to have two-and-a-half-year terms. This is an arrangement, however, that Baghel and his aides have not confirmed.
In June 2022, things came to a head with both leaders camping in Delhi, and over 40 MLAs backing Baghel also arrived in Delhi. In July, the rift deepened with Singh Deo resigning from the Panchayat and Rural Development department, one of the five portfolios he held. He continues to be the minister for health and family welfare, medical education, twenty-point implementation and commercial tax (GST) departments.
On December 20, Singh Deo first indicated uncertainty about contesting the next elections, saying that he would decide his future after speaking to the “people and his supporters.”
Asked to clarify his comments, Singh Deo said, “Since I have not taken a decision yet, everyone is waiting, including me. I have thus far not made up my mind. Thus far whatever elections have happened- 2008, 2013, 2018- it used to be in my mind that I want to fight elections, and I will ask the people and fight. This time I don’t have that feeling. But, whatever I will do, I will ask the people and do. This time, my mind is not in fighting the elections like it used to be before.”
Reacting to his comment, Congress spokesperson RP Singh said, “Singh Deo ji is a very senior and important leader of the Congress in the state. We need him for our party and elections but it is his personal choice to fight the upcoming elections.”
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ajay Chandrakar said, “Singh Deo has been insulted by the Congress since they formed the government. This is a result of the continuous harassment and insult by his party.”
