BHUPESH BAGHEL GETS AN EXTENSION, FOR NOW
The Congress leadership— Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi—has given a political “lease of life” to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel until the Uttar Pradesh elections.
Two things seem to have worked in Baghel’s favour, for now—his OBC identity and the fact that he is the CM of a state that is rich in mines and generates a lot of funds for the party, coffers that will be needed during the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. In the past too, during the rule of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chhattisgarh was a major contributor towards election funds in UP.
According to an All India Congress Committee (AICC) office bearer, who was in Raipur on Friday, Baghel has got a “lease of life” until the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, after which a call will be taken by the Gandhis to replace him with Ambikapur MLA and Health Minister, Tribhuvaneshwar Saran Singh Deo, or T.S. Singh Deo. Until then, the responsibilities and powers given to Deo will be increased.
Close supporters of Deo, while commenting on the matter, told The Sunday Guardian that the “fire was still raging”, but they would not add fuel to it by making any statements to the media. Baghel, who is a Kurmi OBC, has never shied away from flaunting his caste identity and had in 2019 invited a fellow Kurmi and Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar to Raipur for a Kurmi megaevent. Talking to The Sunday Guardian, T.S. Singh Deo said that he has been advised by his “well-wishers” not to comment on the subject.
Congress sources told The Sunday Guardian that Baghel’s apparent show of strength or “trust” that he enjoys with the Congress MLAS, which he flaunted by flying them to New Delhi, has not gone down well with both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. It was done despite the state Congress president Mohan Markam asking them not to undertake any such activity. At least 56 MLAS, along with senior state party functionaries and district presidents, landed in Delhi on 26 August, acting on the directives given to them by Baghel and state in-charge P.L. Punia. The idea behind this move, which was the brainchild of Punia, was to parade them in front of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, where the MLAS were supposed to tell them that they had full confidence in Baghel and there was no need to replace him with Singh Deo. A common letter, too, was drafted, which was signed by all the MLAS reposing their faith in Baghel after which it was submitted to the AICC office. The party has 70 MLAS in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly.
However, Punia and