Bhupesh Baghel vs TS Singh Deo in the spotlight after FIR against Congress leader

A FIR was registered against a Chhattisgarh Congress leader known to be close to health minister TS Singh Deo who is in the middle of an ongoing tussle with chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Police have registered a criminal case against state Congress secretary Pankaj Singh, known to be one of health minister TS Singh Deo’s closest aides for allegedly manhandling and abusing a medical worker in a hospital in Bilaspur. But the First Information Report (FIR) put the focus back on the leadership struggle in Chhattisgarh after Bilaspur MLA Shailesh Pandey asked if Pankaj Singh was targeted for being close to the health minister.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel appeared to gain the advantage in the tussle for the chief minister’s chair vis-a-vis health minister TS Singh Deo after a marathon meeting with the Congress brass in August (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

“Police are not able to explain why they have booked Singh. Police are saying that the instructions for FIR were given by senior officials hence... I asked the police, are they registering cases against us because we are close to Singh Deo?… Last year I was also booked by police for just helping the poor and now Singh was targeted...These questions should be answered,” said Shailesh Pandey, who is also known to be close to Singh Deo, said.

On Tuesday, the Congress MLA reached the police station along with his supporters to protest the police move.

Health minister Singh Deo could not be reached even after repeated attempts.

Bhupesh Baghel and Singh Deo have been locked in a tussle for the chief minister’s chair in Chhattisgarh that brought them to Delhi last month for meetings with top Congress leaders.

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 Singh Deo, Bhupesh Baghel seemed to have bought some time. He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would visit the state the next week, especially Bastar, to see for himself 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, friction between Bhupesh Baghel and TS Singh Deo meant that Tamradhwaj Sahu, now home minister, initially emerged as the frontrunner for chief minister, 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.

The trigger for the Congress MLA’s swipe at Bhupesh Baghel is an incident at Bilaspur hospital on September 18, when Pankaj Singh visited the government-run Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS), Bilaspur, after receiving a call from a patient.

Superintendent of Police, Bilaspur, Deepak Jha said they received a complaint on September 19 regarding the incident the previous day. “A patient had come for a radiology examination at CIMS and for some reason the machine was dysfunctional. Since, there was a delay due to the technical glitch, the patient called Pankaj Singh, who reached the hospital. Singh got irritated with the delay and manhandled and abused the radiographer, Tula Tande. The next day, Tande reached police and lodged a complaint” said the Bilaspur SP said.

Police said that they have investigated the case and retrieved CCTV footage from the hospital and subsequently registered a case on Monday.

“We have booked Singh under the section 186 IPC (obstruction in government work), section 353 (criminal assault on a govt employee on duty) and section 3 of Chhattisgarh Medical Service Persons and Medical Service Institutions Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property Act 2010,” the Bilaspur district police chief said, adding that the preliminary stage of investigation is complete and police will proceed for Singh’s arrest based on the final findings of the investigation.

Congress’s state communication head, Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said the matter should not be politicised as it is a case of allegedly breaking the law, a message aimed at his own party.

“We are living in a state where even CM’s father was booked by the police because he had given a statement which is against a particular community. The arrest of Singh should not be politicised and let the law take its own course,” said Trivedi.