R Krishna Das
Raipur, December 11
Unfussy comment by a senior most minister and the subsequent spitfire reaction by the Chief Minister had stirred the political cauldron in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh.
While responding to a pointed query of scribe two days ago, Chhattisgarh’s senior most minister TS Singh Deo observed that normally the party high command decided the tenure of Chief Minister and it could last for two days or 15 years depending on leadership.
The reporter had asked about the post two-and-a-half-year scenario; making an overt reference to power sharing formulate reportedly reached during the selection of leader when Congress came to power in Chhattisgarh in December 2018.
While Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was then party chief, Singh Deo was the main strategist and party’s election manifesto head that worked to topple the 15-year-rule of BJP. Though the party high command never endorsed it, the political circle in Chhattisgarh was buzzed with the reports that there was a power sharing formula to facilitate both the leaders to head the government for equal terms.
Baghel’s furious reaction, literally, first time on the issue, had flared up furry of political activities in the state where Congress would be competing two years in power next week.
“I am talking to you right now and if I get a telephone call from the party high command, I will immediately return from here,” Baghel said. He would not falter to tender his resignation if the party leadership asked for it, the Chief Minister added.
Baghel said he did not have a craze for the Chief Minister’s post. “The party high command had appointed him and he would resign if it asked,” he said, adding that there was no need to blow the issue out of proportion. The person trying to create any confusion must be cautious about the act, he said without naming anyone.
The development powered the opposition parties to take a dig. “What has happened all of a sudden…the reaction of the chief minister indicates such a formula exists,” Janta Congress Chhattisgarh Chief Amit Jogi said.
