R Krishna Das
Raipur, June 17
A government completing a mid-term in office is customarily not a matter of serious appraisal or confab. Chhattisgarh however remains exceptional.
The Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh today completed two-and-a-half-year in office. And a so-called “formula” had created a furore in the state’s political fraternity. The Congress leaders deny any such formula, but the political sequence in the selection of Chief Minister in the mid of December 2018 and simmering differences among party’s state stalwarts had made it debatable and live.
An owner of a Tiles shop in Raipur’s Pachpedi Naka locality never disappointed his customers even if it came to deliver in the mid-night. He contrasted his character when a buyer called him. He humbly told the customer that he was pulling the shutter down as he along with his community members had to rush to the airport as a senior member of their “samaj” was going to become the Chief Minister. The members had planned a rousing reception on arrival.
And when the name was finally announced, it was not he that the “samaj”” members were informed about. Chhattisgarh Congress Chief Bhupesh Baghel was bestowed the responsibility to head the Congress government that came to power after 15-year of BJP rule. T S Singh Deo, party’s main strategist, who meticulously framed the manifesto that attracted the people before voting, was also one of the contenders for the coveted post.
The delay and confusion till the eleventh hour in the selection of Chief Minister even after landslide victory made political pandits to predict and coin the power sharing formula. After all, both Baghel and Singh Deo had played crucial roles equally to re-establish Congress in Chhattisgarh’s political landscape.
Had there been no mix-up in the candidate selection, the so-called formula would not have been a talking point. More so, the alleged sidelining of one of the contenders during the COVID-19 management had also fanned speculation; making pandits to desperately predict the real cause of simmering differences among party’s two top stalwarts. “If the two leaders were not enjoying good terms, what exactly is the reason behind it?” quizzed one of them.
The so-called formula is a subject of debate; but what remains undebatable in the Chhattisgarh’s political corridors is the rift created between two Congress heavyweights. “Is the fracture in the relationship have anything to do with the formula? If not, then what could be the exact reason for the rift?” another observer put it succinctly.
Even the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had plunged to use the “formula” to fight the Congress. The BJP MLAs led by former Chief Minister Raman Singh had asked the Congress high command to clear its stand on the power sharing formula.
