Chhattisgarh 'under control', says Congress

“There is no problem in the state. The party is united and prepared for the next assembly elections,” AICC in-charge of Chhattisgarh PL Punia told ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri

New Delhi:The situation in Chhattisgarh is under control, the Congress claimed on Saturday as political temperature shot up in the central state. The state was in the spotlight recently over reports that health minister TS Singh Deo, who had reportedly been miffed with chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, acknowledged that he had been approached by the Aam Aadmi Party, which is trying to make inroads there.

“There is no problem in the state. The party is united and prepared for the next assembly elections,” AICC in-charge of Chhattisgarh PL Punia told ETV Bharat. Last year, the Congress-ruled state was being watched with great interest as several lawmakers reached Delhi, apparently to back chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. TS Singh Deo, a party veteran, and Gandhi family loyalist, too camped in the national capital.

There were reports that Deo had come to remind Rahul Gandhi of a promise made in 2018 that the chief minister would be rotated after half of the term. But nothing of that sort happened. In 2018, hectic parleys had taken place before the high command decided to back the claim of Baghel, who had led the party as state unit chief though the role played by Deo in drafting the election manifesto too had been noted.

Later, Baghel supervised the Assam assembly elections for a month and campaigned for party candidates in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, under special arrangements made by in-charge Priyank Gandhi Vadra. The chief minister has regularly been taking on the BJP aggressively and implementing the party’s poll manifesto.

On the part of Deo, his handling of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021 as state health minister, was appreciated by one and all. AICC Secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh Chandan Yadav said the party was united in the state ahead of the 2023 assembly elections. He cited the launch of mobile health vans in Patan on Saturday by both Baghel and Singh Deo to point out that there were no differences between the two leaders.

“At present, our focus is on the Khairagarh bypoll on April 12. All the top state leaders are going to campaign there. We are going to win the seat and increase our tally to 71/90 in the assembly,” Yadav told ETV Bharat. The Congress is betting big on the bypoll and has even promised to make Khairagarh a district if the party nominee gets elected.