Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government has appointed 25 Congress legislators as parliamentary secretaries and to various posts in statutory bodies, boards, and commissions in the last three days, sparking criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that linked the appointments to infighting within the ruling party and the ongoing turmoil in Rajasthan.
On Tuesday, the Congress appointed 15 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries to assist 12 cabinet ministers. On Wednesday, six more lawmakers were named as chairmen and vice-chairmen of two development authorities. And, on Thursday, four legislators were appointed to state boards and commissions.
With this, 38 of the Congress’s 69 legislators in the 90-member assembly now hold ministerial berths or other government posts. Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has a 12-member cabinet.
BJP leader Brijmohan Agrawal said the government hurriedly made the appointments as it fears a political crisis like the one in Rajasthan, where former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and MLAs close to him rebelled against chief minister Ashok Gehlot.
“There is a huge discontentment among Congress legislators. The ruling party decided in a hurry to appoint them as parliamentary secretaries. This is a fallout of what happened in Madhya Pradesh and might happen in Rajasthan. The Congress is afraid...” Agrawal said.
The Congress returned to power in 2018 after 15 years of BJP rule.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress returned to power in 2018 after 15 years of BJP rule.
{{/usCountry}}Congress leader RP Singh dismissed Agrawal’s comments, saying the BJP has only 14 members in the state assembly and the party needed to understand where it stood. He said the list of these appointments was prepared before the Rajasthan crisis. “It is a coincidence that it has been announced now.”
Another BJP leader, Ajay Chandrakar, said a growing rift between Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh is well known.
Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, Congress’s communications head, said Chandrakar and Agarwal’s are two major factions in the BJP since 2000. “Now, they are talking about rift and infighting. They need to first get their house in order.”
Political commentator Parivesh Mishra said using posts in government-owned corporations and bodies to placate the disgruntled people has been a practice common across party lines in various states. “In Chhattisgarh, the appointments were long due. The timing coincided with political events in Rajasthan...”