With just months to go for Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the Congress on Wednesday appointed TS Singhdeo as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
Singhdeo’s appointment was announced in a review meeting held to discuss the upcoming Chhattisgarh Assembly elections at the Congress headquarters in Delhi.
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Bhupesh Baghel congratulated Singh Deo on his appointment and shared a picture of the two of them saying, “We are ready.”
Announcing Singhdeo’s appointment, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said, “INC President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for appointment of TS Singh Deo as the Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. He is a loyal Congress leader and an able administrator. The state will benefit greatly from his service as Deputy CM.”
Sources indicated that the move was aimed at countering factionalism in a state where the party has a shot at winning a second term.
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Soon after being appointed the Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, TS Singhdeo denied speaking about any agreement on a rotational CM post in the state ever and said it was only a buzz created by the media, news agency PTI reported.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Singhdeo said, “I never spoke about rotational CM post, it was a buzz created by media.”
Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singhdeo history
TS Singhdeo was among the front-runners for the top post in the 2018 Assembly election. But Bhupesh Baghel, who led the party campaign, was the choice of the central leadership for the chief minister’s post.
The TS Singhdeo camp insists there was a rotational power-sharing agreement. There have also been allegations that the Chief Minister’s supporters tried to undermine Singhdeo. The refrain was articulated by Singhdeo himself in a letter announcing his decision to step down as the minister for Panchayats and Rural Development last year.
The formula of a rotational CM post was not implemented and several attempts were made to corner Deo. Since then, Singhdeo and CM Bhupesh Baghel have been at loggerheads.
In April this year, Deo said, “The media is time and again asking about the ‘2.5-2.5 years CM’ (2.5 years Baghel and 2.5 years Deo) formula. It hurts when it doesn’t happen.” He also alleged that he and his ministers “are not free to speak about what happens behind closed doors”.
The 2023 Chhattisgarh Assembly poll is scheduled to be held by November this year to elect all 90 members of the state’s Legislative Assembly.
The Congress swept the Chhattisgarh polls in December 2018, winning 70 of 90 seats and leaving the incumbent BJP far behind at 14 seats.
BJP slams decision
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and BJP leader Raman Singh said that Congress leadership has lost faith in Bhupesh Baghel. “Yesterday a big decision was taken by Congress, in which Bhupesh Baghel’s face was removed from the Chief Ministerial post. It was announced that the Congress would contest the elections with collective leadership. The slogan ‘Bhupesh pe bharosa hai’ has now changed to ‘Bhupesh hai toh bhrashtachar hai’. Now that they are talking about collective leadership, it is certain that the Congress Central leadership has lost faith in Bhupesh Baghel,” Raman Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.