Chhattisgarh Cong leader tries to make a case for TS Singh Deo, stopped midway

Pawan Agarwal, a Congress leader, was seen being pushed away from the podium and barred from going ahead with his speech with a large number of party workers jumping on the platform.

A clash among local party workers in Chhattisgarh has brought to fore the power tussle within the grand old party in the one of the last remaining Congress-ruled states.

Video grab of Congress leader Pawan Agarwal being stopped from going ahead with his speech. (ANI Twitter)

A clipping shared by news agency ANI showed Congress leaders and workers engaging in a brawl at a party conference in Jashpur after a former district unit president, Pawan Agarwal, reportedly started speaking about state health minister TS Singh Deo.

Agarwal was seen being pushed away from the podium and barred from going ahead with his speech with a large number of party workers jumping on the platform.

Later, Agarwal was quoted as saying chief minister Bhupesh Baghel must vacate his seat and let Deo, who waited for two-and-a-half years, take over the reins.

"When there was no Congress government in Chhattisgarh, Deo and Baghel had worked together. It is due to them that the Congress came to power. When I was saying this, people of Kunkuri MLA (UD Minj) attacked me,” Agarwal was quoted as saying by ANI.

The power-sharing crisis between Baghel and Deo has been going on for months now with both leaders and their loyalists making frequent visits to the national capital to press for their cause.

Even last week, Deo flew down to Delhi for a meeting with central leaders, while Baghel reportedly spoke to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. However, those close to the CM denied that the meeting had anything to do with a possible change in guard.