Amid speculation that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tried to contact a few disgruntled leaders of the ruling Congress and BJP in Chhattisgarh, state health minister T S Singh Deo said it is difficult for him to think beyond Congress as five generations of his family has been associated with the party.
In an informal interaction with the media at the Raipur Press Club on Saturday, Singh Deo, however, said that representatives of AAP had contacted him.
When asked whether AAP had reached out to him to join the party, Singh Deo said, “.. I haven’t met Arvind Kejriwal ji. But it is also true that in politics, a lot of people remain in contact and they also make contact. It is not like that they did not contact me but I told them that five generations of my family had been associated with Congress and I could not think beyond it.”
Chhattisgarh president of AAP, Komal Hupendi, reacting to Singh Deo’s statement said that he was not aware that anyone had contacted him.
“As a party president I can say that I have not contacted Singh Deo but it could be possible that someone from the party made him an offer to join AAP. Although, I urged him and all the leaders of the BJP and Congress to join AAP for the betterment of Chhattisgarh…Our party is for the people of the state and is the future of the state,” said Hupendi.
{{/usCountry}}“As a party president I can say that I have not contacted Singh Deo but it could be possible that someone from the party made him an offer to join AAP. Although, I urged him and all the leaders of the BJP and Congress to join AAP for the betterment of Chhattisgarh…Our party is for the people of the state and is the future of the state,” said Hupendi.
{{/usCountry}}Singh Deo and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel were involved in a tussle over the reported two-and-a-half-year power-sharing formula. Singh Deo, for the last six months has been continuously saying that the issue is pending with the high command.
In December 2018, in the aftermath of a dominant Congress performance with the party winning 68 of the 90 assembly seats in the state, choosing a chief minister became a problem in Chhattisgarh with four state leaders, Baghel, home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, Speaker Charan Das Mahant and Singh Deo all eyeing the chief minister’s post. After Mahant settled for the Speaker’s position, continuous friction between Baghel and Singh Deo initially tilted the scale in Sahu’s favour, however, realising that a third leader will gain in the political fight, Baghel and Singh Deo, along with Punia and Gandhi, reportedly arrived at a power-sharing arrangement.