Ahead of Chhattisgarh polls, CM Baghel's rival TS Singh Deo appointed as his deputy

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for the appointment of TS Singh Deo as the deputy chief minister in Chhattisgarh.

Published on: Jun 28, 2023, 21:49:24 IST

By HT News Desk

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Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's rival and health minister TS Singh Deo has been appointed as his deputy, party general-secretary KC Venugopal announced on Wednesday.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel with his new deputy TS Singh Deo.

“INC President Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge ji has approved the proposal for appointment of Sh. TS Singh Deo ji as the Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh,” Venugopal said in a tweet.

“He is a loyal Congress leader and an able administrator. The state will benefit greatly from his services as Deputy CM,” the Rajya Sabha member added.

The announcement comes hours after Singh Deo ruled out the possibility of Congress high command changing the CM face ahead of the assembly elections due later this year. Singh Deo was among the frontrunners for the chief ministerial seat in the 2018 assembly elections but was pipped at the post by Baghel.

“We are ready. Congratulations and best wishes to Maharaj Saheb for his responsibility as deputy chief minister,” Baghel said in a tweet after the formal announcement

When 70-year-old TS Singh Deo went skydiving in Australia

Both Baghel and Singh Deo were in New Delhi today to discuss the party's strategy and poll preparedness with the top leadership. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, the party's in-charge for the state Kumari Selja and general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal were among the leaders who attended the meeting at the party headquarters.

The Chhattisgarh Congress in-charge Kumari Selja stressed that the strategy of this year’s elections was to ‘uphold the constitutional values of our country and work hand in hand’; unlike the BJP’s “trap” to promote communal hate and divide politics.

“The target is to uphold the constitutional values of our country however it is evident that the BJP has been banking on nothing but its communal agenda. We can never fall into the BJP’s trap as it is short-term whereas the Congress’ ideologies and guiding forces are beyond all these which keeps the nation and society as whole above all,” Selja said at a press conference after the meeting.

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