Pawan Khera arrest: CM Bhupesh Baghal dubs it as 'conspiracy' and 'low-level act'

Congress leaders are aggrieved after Congress leader Pawan Khera, who was coming from Delhi to Raipur to attend the party convention, was taken off the flight. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has termed it a conspiracy to stop Khera from attending the convention. He said the leaders will make the session a success. At the same time, BJP leader Brijmohan Agarwal has taunted Congress regarding this whole incident.

Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel on Thursday termed Congress leader Pawan Khera's arrest episode a "conspiracy" and a "low-level act" of the BJP-led central government that was purposely done to disturb the party's session in Raipur scheduled on Friday.

Alleging that guests were being stopped from coming to Raipur, Baghel claimed that Khera did not commit any such crime for which he was being taken off the plane. "There is no such situation that the Congress leaders are escaping from the country. Pawan Khera is a well-known face. This proves that the BJP is extremely scared of the Congress session. They want to disturb our convention by some means or the other," Baghel said. Earlier, Congress spokesperson Khera was arrested by Assam police from Delhi airport after being deplaned from a flight to Raipur.

Baghel said all Congress workers including members of the organizing committee are firmly committed to making the convention successful. Congress workers from across the country have said that the session will be successful. "This Pawan Khera episode was done only to stop the Congress session. This is a conspiracy and a low level act," he said.

Congress MLA Devendra Yadav claimed BJP's agenda was to scare away the Congress leaders. "Instead of promoting their people, they want to frustrate the Congress leaders. We will fight them under the leadership of Bhupesh Baghel," he said.

Responding to the allegations of Congress, BJP leader Brijmohan Agarwal said one is not arrested without reason. "There is democracy in this country and everyone has equal rights. If someone is guilty, he will be punished. Congress has been left with only one work and that is to make allegations," the BJP leader said.

Agarwal said the Congress session is of no use to the common people as it is a program of the party. "The Congress leaders are publicizing0 it in a big way but this will not benefit Chhattisgarh in any way. The recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids prove that the party is completely corruption-ridden. It does not do any development work," he said.

Agarwal told the chief minister to ask senior party leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who are coming to attend the session, as to why the poor were not getting houses.