Chhattisgarh Congress split wide open, Rahul Gandhi to meet leaders today

The trouble in the Chhattisgarh Congress seems to be getting bigger with the action shifting to Delhi. . Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and ‘CM aspirant’ TS Singh Deo are scheduled to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday amid talk that Deo was posing a challenge to Baghel’s leadership.

According to reports the agenda for discussion is the issue of rotational chief ministership between the two leaders. Baghel completed two-and-a-half years in office in June. Singh Deo had been hinting at a change of leadership based on the rotational formula. 

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This comes barely a month after the Congress doused a fire in the Punjab unit with months to go for assembly polls. Now PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh were involved in a protracted stand off with the chief minister resisting any move to elevate Sidhu to an important position. Finally, the Gandhis stepped in to appoint Sidhu the party chief, much to the discomfort of Singh. One needs to wait and watch to see how the so-called peace pact will play out at ground level.

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Months before Punjab, Rajasthan, another Congress ruled state was rocked by dissent, with deputy CM Sachin Pilot challenging the authority of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Gehlot, however, stood his ground and nipped the dissent in the bud with Pilot and his followers returning to party fold.

Chhattisgarh storm

The differences between Baghel and Deo, according to reports, can be traced back to a post-poll arrangement for rotational chief ministership in Chhattisgarh. After the Congress won the assembly elections in 2018, Bhagel and Deo emerged as frontrunners for the top post in the state. Rahul Gandhi, after a series of consultations,  handed over the CM seat to Baghel. It was reported that the top post would be shared on a two-and-a-half-year rotational  basis between Baghel and Deo. 

Bhagel has often dismissed the talk of rotational CM and recently said that these were features of a coalition government. To this Deo had said, “There are many instances when Congress CMs were changed before they completed their terms or continued for 10 or even 15 years. In Uttarakhand, we had more than one Congress CM last time (Vijay Bahuguna and Harish Rawat)…” according to ET.