Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on July 12 appointed Deepak Baij, a tribal leader and a Lok Sabha member from Bastar, as the chief of the party’s Chhattisgarh Unit.
Mr. Baij, 41, replaces the outgoing President Mohan Markam, also a tribal and hailing from Bastar, whose tenure as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president ended last year.
The appointment — that comes months before the due Assembly elections and nearly a fortnight after Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s political rival T. S. Singh Deo being elevated as the Deputy Chief Minister later this year — is yet another sign of the ruling party ironing out the creases before full-fledged campaigning gets under way.
