Seeking to put an end to the leadership tussle in Chhattisgarh, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday approved a proposal to make Senior Minister T.S. Singh Deo the Deputy Chief Minister.
The announcement comes barely four months before the Assembly election in the State, where Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is hoping to repeat a second term.
“He is a loyal Congress leader and an able administrator. The State will benefit greatly from his services as Deputy CM. We are confident that the people of Chattisgarh will re-elect the Congress with a thumping majority under the leadership of Khargeji and Rahul Gandhiji,” Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal tweeted.
The decision came on a day the party’s top leadership, including Mr, Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Mr. Venugopal, discussed the strategy for the upcoming elections at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters.
Sources said after this meeting, Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Kharge had a separate meeting with Mr. Baghel where the decision is said to have to conveyed to him.
In the evening, the party projected a united Chhattisgarh leadership, with Mr. Kharge posing with Mr. Baghel, Mr Singh Deo and others.
“We are ready. Congratulations and best wishes to Maharaj Sahib for his responsibility as the Deputy Chief Minister,” Mr Baghel tweeted moments after the formal announcement.
Though there was never an official announcement when the Congress formed government in Chhattisgarh in December 2018, there was speculation that Mr. Gandhi, as the then Congress president, had approved a rotational formula where Mr. Baghel was supposed to hand over the chief ministership to Mr. Singh Deo after two and a half years.
However, that didn’t happen as Mr. Baghel claimed the support of the majority of the MLAs.
The Chhattisgarh peace formula will also be significant for the poll-bound Rajasthan, where Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is locked in a leadership tussle with his former deputy, Sachin Pilot, and the party high command is trying to resolve the dispute.
Earlier, in the day, after presiding over the strategy meeting at the AICC headquarters, Mr. Kharge had tweeted, “Garhbo Nava Chhattisgarh’ [Build a new Chhattisgarh] is not just a slogan for us, it is a goal for the State’s progress and social justice. The people of Chhattisgarh and their unwavering faith in the Congress party will continue to propel the continuous stream of development.”
“We will work together and keep bringing change in the lives of the people of Chhattisgarh,” he added.
AICC in-charge Ms. Selja told reporters that Mr. Gandhi urged the Chhattisgarh leaders to work unitedly for “every section of the society and not fall into the BJP’s trap”.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Singh Deo, who will be the first Deputy Chief Minister in the 22-year-old State, said he would make every attempt to take everyone along and deliver whatever one could do “in one’s limited capacity”.
The Sarguja Royal scion said he would contest election if the high command gave him ticket. Mr. Singh Deo had earlier said that he did not feel like contesting election in 2023. He said while the Congress had a good chance in the election due later this year, no one could afford to be overconfident.
“Deputy CM as such does not have any special responsibility, there may be a different protocol... So, as of now the departments that are with me are my primary responsibility and it is for the Chief Minister if he wants to delegate something else,” he said.
The Opposition BJP said the move was taken to contain the infighting within the Congress and to clean the taint that the party has earned due to the “autocratic ways of Mr. Baghel”.
(With inputs from Shubhomoy Sikdar in Raipur)
