Rahul to visit C’garh soon
After a marathon meeting of more than three hours with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel managed to save his job for another day. The meeting was attended by Priyanka Gandhi and General Secretary Incharge P.L. Punia. Speaking to reporters after the meeting Baghel said, “I told him everything. There were political as well state administrative discussions. In the end, I requested Rahul Gandhi to visit Chhattisgarh. He gladly accepted the invitation, he will be there next week. He (Rahul Gandhi) will first visit Bastar, and inspect the various projects and works there.”
When asked about the 2.5 years formula regarding the Chief Ministers of the state he said, “P.L. Punia has already clarified this, I don’t need to say anything further. I have told my leader whatever I wanted to.”
This is the second meeting between the Congress leadership and the Chief Minister amidst the continuing power struggle between him and state health minister T.S. Singh Deo.
In the present meeting Priyanka Gandhi is said to have played a key role as she was shuttling between the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and residence of Rahul Gandhi where the meeting was taking place.
Singh Deo earlier this week had met the Congress high command along with Baghel. While the Chief Minister returned to Raipur Singh Deo remained in Delhi demanding that the assurance given in 2018 of rotational Chief Minister should be fulfilled by the party high command. Both the factions of Baghel and Singh Deo demanding that their leader should be leading the state government.
The day saw hectic parleys as supporter MLAs of Bhupesh Baghel were frisking across the national capital. They were put in a plush hotel in central Delhi. After concluding the meeting with the Congress high command the Chief Minister headed to the Congress headquarters to meet up with them. One of the ministers who is in Delhi to support Baghel, Amarjeet Bhagat, said, “We have come to talk to our leaders. Our government is doing very well under Bhupesh Baghel’s leadership. We only want to tell the leadership to keep blessing us.”
Both the leaders have publicly stated that they will abide by the decision of the party high command. But Singh Deo has already conveyed to the party’s high command that he could not wait any more than two months for the change in power as it is not possible to work with the current Chief Minister.