No leadership change, hints Bhupesh Baghel

19:57 August 27

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel meets Congress MLAs

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel meets Congress MLAs from his state who have gathered at the AICC HQ in Delhi.

19:44 August 27

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tussle within the Chhattisgarh unit of Congress regarding the leadership issue in the state, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on Friday, had a meeting with the party's former President Rahul Gandhi at his residence, here in Delhi. 

Baghel, after the meeting, told the media that he has explained everything to the party high command and there would be no rotation of the CM post in Chhattisgarh.

This comes after his Cabinet colleague and Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Deo had claimed that as per an informal deal that had been struck in 2018, he would be made the CM after the completion of 2.5 years of the state Government. 

The meeting at Rahul Gandhi's residence lasted for more than 3 hours wherein Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and AICC General Secretary in-charge KC Venugopal were also present.

When asked if he is quitting the post of CM, Baghel asserted that he has invited Rahul Gandhi to visit Raipur next week and that he would continue to be the CM. 

Earlier, it was reported that Rahul Gandhi had summoned Baghel to Delhi just a day after the latter had flown back to his state from the national capital as the party high command was of the view that he should fulfil his commitment given to TS Singh Deo.

To counter this, Baghel used pressure tactics, as more than 50 MLAs of Chhattisgarh Congress reached Delhi to demand from party high command that any change being made in the state leadership might result in the destabilization of the Government in the state. 

After meeting with Gandhi, Baghel went to AICC headquarters, where all his supporter MLAs were waiting to be briefed about the situation. Following the meet, all the MLAs were seen sloganeering in praise of Baghel and also congratulating each other. When asked about the matter, Chhattisgarh Congress leader Pratima Chandrakar said that there would be no change of guard in the coming days.

However, no official comments have come from the side of TS Singh Deo as of now. On Thursday, he had said, "If a person plays in a team then doesn't he think about becoming the captain? Won't you want to become one? Everyone thinks about that, but the question is not about his thoughts, it's about his capabilities."