With the state Assembly elections drawing closer, the Chhattisgarh unit of Congress has witnessed several changes within the party. A day after Mohan Markam was replaced by Deepak Baij as the president of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, the former has been given a ministerial berth in the Bhupesh Baghel Cabinet.
Markam’s oath swearing was held in Chhattisgarh Raj Bhavan in Raipur on Friday.
Mohan Markam is a two-time MLA from Kondagaon. After losing the 2008 Assembly polls to Lata Usendi, a former minister in the BJP government in Chhattisgarh, Markam defeated Usendi in the 2013 and 2018 state elections. In June 2019, he was made the Chhattisgarh PCC president.
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Mohan Markam, a senior leader from the tribal community, replaced fellow tribal leader and MLA Premsai Singh Tekam as a minister in the Bhupesh Baghel Cabinet. Tekam, 69, held two portfolios: that of school education, and the development of scheduled castes, tribes, OBCs and minorities.
On his resignation, Tekam told the media, “Who must be kept in the Cabinet and who must be removed is decided by the CM. I was told that this was the AICC’s (All-India Congress Committee) decision. Resignation is not given; it is taken.”
Stating that these changes “keep happening” in a party, he also said, “I want to work for the elections and do whatever the party asks me to do. The party will decide who gets the ticket (for elections), but everyone must work for the party.”
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Differences between Makram, Bhupesh Baghel?
Removing Markam from the state party chief post has ignited speculations of strife within the Chhattisgarh Congress.
On the ministerial berth offered to Markam and resignation letter by school education minister Prem Sai Singh Tekam, Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel made a scathing attack on the Congress party. He termed the whole incident unfortunate, unfair and quite insulting for a tribal leader as well as for the community.
“The forceful eviction of Markam from the state president position and coerced resignation by the school education minister signifies that things are not going well in the party,” Chandel said.
Secondly, offering the minister’s post to the tribal leader Markam indicates that Congress has entered into damage control mode when they found it will act as a major loss on tribal votes. However, it has exposed the differences among leaders, which may lead to fight and divide within the party in the coming days, he alleged.
Speaking on the reshuffling being done in the party, Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday said, “Different people are given different responsibilities in our (party) organisation. Mohan-ji completed his term and changes are taking place in all states. In the Raipur plenary (of the Congress, held earlier this year), it was decided that 50 per cent seats (in the forthcoming Assembly elections) will be given to people below 50 years of age. So, we have started with it (the process).”
Asked to react to BJP leader and three-time CM Raman Singh’s remarks that Markam has been handed a baby rattle toy by making him a minister for a few months, Chief Minister Baghel told The Indian Express, “Raman Singh-ji must see the situation in his party. Singh-ji, Brijmohan Agrawal, Ajay Chandrakar, Premprakash Pandey-ji must see their own situation. He must think about their respect and status. He is out of all (BJP) committees.”