No political angle in MLAS’ Delhi visit: CM
RAIPUR: Amid speculation of a possible change of guard in Chhattisgarh, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday played down the visit of 10 Congress MLAS to the national capital, ruling out any “political angle” in the trip.
“The MLAS can’t even go anywhere? If someone has gone there, it shouldn’t be seen from a political angle. If a politician is going somewhere, it’s obvious that he’ll meet political persons only,” Baghel told reporters in Raipur.
On the possibility of the MLAS meeting AICC in-charge for Chhattisgarh, P L Punia, Baghel said, “Is Punia ji in Delhi? If Punia ji is not in Delhi, there is no question of meeting him.”
The chief minister’s remarks came a day after 10 legislators flew to Delhi, adding to the buzz over a possible leadership change as a part of purported power-sharing formula in the Congress government.
Baghel and his cabinet colleague, T S Singh Deo, have been locked in a tussle for the chief minister’s chair. As Baghel completed two-and-a-half years in office in June this year, the Singh Deo camp claimed that the high command in 2018 had agreed to hand over the post to him after the government completed half its term. Punia, however, has time and again denied that any such deal was struck in 2018.
Reacting to the visit of the Congress MLAS, Singh Deo on Wednesday said: “We all know what kind of talks are going on regarding Chhattisgarh’s politics. Earlier, there was nothing but now the talk of a possible change of guard is in the public domain and probably that’s the reason for MLAS flying to Delhi, though they are saying that their agenda is development and not political.”
Congress leader Brihaspat Singh, who led the group, insisted that there was no issue over the chief minister’s post and that they wanted to meet Punia over a proposed tour of party leader Rahul Gandhi to the state.