The crisis in the Congress is leaping from one state to another, and after Punjab, another Congress-ruled state Chhattisgarh seems to be the next stop of this crisis. Worried over speculation of leadership change, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has dispatched around 15 MLAs to Delhi who are loyal to him. Baghel is expected to send more MLAs to mobilize support in his favour.
These MLAs reached Delhi on Wednesday and sought a meeting with the central high command of the party as well as in-charge PL Punia to submit a signed petition against any change of guard. According to media reports, these MLAs have said that any attempt of change of leadership may lead to chaos in Chhattisgarh like Punjab and Rajasthan.
The MLAs who have reached Delhi include Purushottam Kanwar, Brihaspati Singh, UD Minj, Prakash Nayak, Mohit Kerketta, Chandradev Rai, Dwarkadhish Yadav, Gulab Kamro and Vinay Jaiswal and others.
Brihaspati Singh maintained that Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit Bastar region and they want Rahul Gandhi to visit their districts also.
The Congress problem in Chhattisgarh
Bhupesh Baghel was appointed chief minister in December 2018 on a rotation formula with the understanding that e will serve only for two and half years. According to the formula, T.S. Singh Deo, who is the health minister in the Baghel cabinet, will head the later part of the government. This rotation formula was neither accepted nor clearly denied by the central leadership. Now T.S. Singh Deo and his supporters are reminding Rahul Gandhi about that rotational formula as time for the change of CM has already passed.
The crisis in Chhattisgarh is unfolding at a time when the central leadership of the Congress is already grappling with the issue of Punjab which has turned into a political theatre of absurdity. Captain Amarinder Singh was removed as chief minister of Punjab on the insistence of Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu. Charanjit Singh Channi was appointed as the new chief minister. But later Navjot Singh Sidhu also tendered his resignation from the post of party president in the state.
However, Chhattisgarh Congress MLA Brihaspati Singh, who is a Baghel loyalist, pointed out that there is no Punjab like situation in Chhattisgarh. He said that all MLAs and ministers are united in his state. He said that they have the blessings of the party high command. Brihaspati Singh is among the MLAs who are camping in Delhi at Chhattisgarh Sadan.
There is no Punjab-like situation in Chattisgarh. All MLAs and ministers are united, and we have the blessings of the party high command: Chhattisgarh Congress MLA Brihaspati Singh in Delhi
— ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2021
He rejected speculation that Baghel will be changed adding that, including party high command, all MLAs and people of Chhattisgarh are satisfied with Baghel as CM. he added that the government can’t be destabilized just to satisfy an individual.
Bhupesh Baghel on previous occasions had said that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had entrusted him the responsibility to run the state government.
In the house of 90 seats, the Congress has 70 MLAs in the assembly, and the Congress government in Chhattisgarh is perhaps the safest one. But nobody can predict when Chhattisgarh will go the Punjab way.
