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Amid rumblings, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel denies political angle in Congress MLAs’ visit to Delhi
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel’s remarks came a day after 10 legislators flew to Delhi, adding to the buzz over a possible leadership change as a part of purported power-sharing formula in the Congress government.
Amid speculation of a possible change of guard in Chhattisgarh, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday sought to play down the visit of 10 Congress MLAs to the national capital, saying the trip does not have not any political objective.
“The MLAs can’t even go anywhere? If someone has gone there, it shouldn’t be seen from a political angle. If a politician is going somewhere, it’s obvious that he’ll meet political persons only,” Baghel told reporters in Raipur.
Asked about the possibility of the MLAs meeting AICC in-charge for Chhattisgarh, P L Punia, Baghel said, “Is Punia ji in Delhi? If Punia ji is not in Delhi, there is no question of meeting him.”
The chief minister’s remarks came a day after 10 legislators flew to Delhi, adding to the buzz over a possible leadership change as a part of purported power-sharing formula in the Congress government.
Baghel and his cabinet colleague, T S Singh Deo, have been locked in a tussle for the chief minister’s chair. As Baghel completed two-and-a-half years in office in June this year, the Singh Deo camp claimed that the high command in 2018 had agreed to hand over the post to him after the government completed half its term.
Punia, however, has time and again denied that any such deal was struck in 2018 when the party came to power by dislodging the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Reacting to the visit of the Congress MLAs to the national capital, Singh Deo on Wednesday said: “We all know what kind of talks are going on regarding Chhattisgarh’s politics. Earlier, there was nothing but now the talk of a possible change of guard is in the public domain and probably that’s the reason for MLAs flying to Delhi, though they are saying that their agenda is development and not political.”
Congress leader Brihaspat Singh, who led the group to Delhi on Wednesday, insisted that there was no issue over the chief minister’s post and that they wanted to meet Punia over a proposed tour of party leader Rahul Gandhi to the state.
“We will meet Punia ji today or tomorrow... Actually, Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Chhattisgarh in next few days for two days and we are here to urge the high command to extend the two-day visit, so that Rahul ji can give more time to our state and meet more people,” Singh had told HT over phone soon after landing in Delhi on Wednesday.
“Around 60 MLAs have verbally told their position to the high command via Punia ji last month... Everything is clear now,” he added.
In August, the Congress high command had summoned both Baghel and Singh Deo to Delhi to resolve the feud. Baghel later told reporters that Gandhi had agreed to visit the state “on his invitation” and those talking about rotating the chief minister’s post were merely attempting to create political instability in the state.
On September 23, senior minister and Chhattisgarh government spokesperson Ravindra Chaubey told reporters that Baghel is scheduled to visit Delhi in the first week of October to discuss Gandhi’s trip to the state.
