C’garh Cong. crisis: Deo ‘suddenly’ rushes to Delhi

Amid the intensifying power struggle between the state health minister and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, T.S. Singh Deo on Monday suddenly left for Delhi, creating ripples in the ruling Congress here.

The development has left the party leaders on tenterhooks.

Deo left an official meeting that he was chairing in the middle after receiving a phone call and caught a flight to Delhi, sources close to the minister told this newspaper.

“The minister is most likely to return to Raipur from Delhi on Tuesday,” one of Deo’s close confidants said.

This is Deo’s second visit to the national capital in just 36 hours. He had returned to Raipur on Saturday night after camping in Delhi for almost a week.

He has been lobbying with the party high command to honour the purported formula agreed during the formation of the Congress government in the state in 2018 to rotate the chief minister’s post between him and Baghel for two-and-a-half years each.

Sources said that Deo was likely to meet several senior Congress leaders in Delhi to resolve the ongoing crisis in the ruling Congress in the state triggered by his demand to appoint him chief minister as per the purported formula.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has remained busy with his official schedule, giving the impression that “all is well” in the party.

Deo had also started attending his official schedules here on Sunday.

DEO LEFT an official meeting, he was chairing here, in the middle after receiving a phone call and caught flight to Delhi, sources said.