Raipur (Chhattisgarh): The Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh has survived a no-trust motion moved by the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the last day of the Monsoon session of the state Assembly.
The no-confidence motion was defeated by voice vote in the state Assembly shortly after 1 am after a 13-hour debate. While the Congress has 71 members in the 90-member assembly, the BJP has 13 MLAs in the House.
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Elections in Chhattisgarh are scheduled to be held before November 2023. The debate, which began shortly after noon on Friday, July 21, saw the BJP presenting a 109-point "chargesheet" against the Bhupesh Baghel government and accusing it of corruption and failure to fulfil poll promises. During the debate, the Opposition members targeted the Congress government over alleged scams, non-fulfilment of its poll promises and "deteriorating" law and order situation.
The treasury bench rejected the charges claiming that the Opposition failed to come up with any concrete issues and its chargesheet lacks facts. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the Opposition chargesheet lacks facts and by bringing it, the BJP gave a chance to the government to highlight its achievements in the Assembly.
Chief Minister Baghel further said that with everyone's help, his government fulfilled all the resolutions, despite several obstacles. "Everyone cooperated for this. The tehsils in the state have also increased. The per capita income has increased. Paddy procurement increased from 56 lakh to 110 lakh metric tonnes. We started the Rajiv Gandhi Justice Scheme, and Landless Rural Workers Scheme among others," the Chief Minister said and listed out the achievements of his government.
According to the CM, his government gave an input subsidy of Rs 20,000 crore rupees to the farmers and the farmers were very happy. Baghel also said that the face of regions like Bastar has changed as many developmental initiatives were taken by his government.
Shortly before the Chief Minister (CM) concluded his speech, the BJP members started sloganeering against the government claiming that it failed to give replies to the Opposition's allegations and walked out from the House. Slamming the Centre, Baghel said the Enforcement Directorate has been given enormous powers, which is not in the interest of the country. "I strongly oppose the move to give powers to ED to probe GST-related cases," he added.
The Congress rejected the charges and said the BJP had failed to come up with concrete issues during the session, the last before Assembly polls. The BJP had moved the no-confidence motion against the government on Wednesday, July 19, and discussion on it was fixed for Friday, July 21.
Initiating the debate, BJP MLA Brijmohan Agrawal hit out at the grand-old party and said the no-trust motion has been brought as this government had turned "deaf and dumb" and become a "murderer of democracy". The atrocities of the Baghel government on youth were greater than those committed by the British, he claimed. He referred to the induction of Mohan Markam into the Baghel-led Cabinet after replacing him as Congress' Chhattisgarh unit chief and the removal of minister Premsai Singh Tekam from the Cabinet.
Recently, the Congress has elevated senior leader TS Singh Deo to the post of Deputy Chief Minister. The Congress is keen to retain power in the state.
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