Chhattisgarh Congress row enters Delhi

New Delhi/Raipur: The Congress’ Chhattisgarh crisis intensified on Thursday with the chief minister Bhupesh Baghel being summoned again by the high command. He is expected to be in Delhi on Friday amidst the continuing power struggle between him and state health Minister T.S. Singh Deo. Insiders did not rule out a change of guard in the state, though Mr Baghel is resisting it.

The summons come just two days after Mr Baghel and Mr Singh Deo met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. After the meeting, Mr Baghel had returned to the state capital while Mr Singh Deo stayed in Delhi demanding that the assurance given in 2018 of rotational chief minister should be fulfilled by the party high command.

MLAs supporting the Baghel and the Singh Deo camp are also expected in Delhi on Friday.

When Mr Baghel returned to Raipur there were almost 30 MLAs at the airport to receive him. The chief minister reposed utmost faith in the party top leadership and did not forget to conclude his remarks saying those fuelling the “2.5-year CM rotation formula" are trying to destabilise the Congress government in the state.

Both Mr Baghel and Mr Singh Deo have maintained that they will follow the orders of the party high command under any circumstances. But their supporters are gunning for each other on the ground as well as on social media.

Mr Singh Deo's supporters claimed that the health minister was promised to be made the CM in this tenure. Sources say Mr Singh Deo has already conveyed to the party's high command that he cannot wait for more than two months for change in power. He has also said that he would resign from all party posts if his demand is not met.

In Delhi, Mr Singh Deo said, “If a person plays in a team, then he can aspire to be the captain too. It’s not about his thoughts or aspirations. It’s about his capabilities and it is for the high command to make a decision.”

He further added, “He (Bhupesh Baghel) might be the chief minister for 50 years or 10 years or 2 years. This is not fixed. There is rivalry even among siblings. Healthy competitions take place. I will carry out the responsibility that is given by the high command”.

Sources said that in Delhi Mr Singh Deo met several senior party leaders, including K.C. Venugopal and AICC in-charge of Chhattisgarh P.L. Punia, to mount pressure on the party high command.

Sources said Mr Singh Deo has refused to budge on his position and indicated that he was not returning to Raipur as long as the issue was not resolved by the party leadership.

Sources said that Mr Singh Deo was offered the post of deputy chief minister in the Bhupesh Baghel ministry by the party high command to end the impasse, but he spurned the offer.