Congress biggies to play musical chairs in Raipur?
NEW DELHI: The suspense over who would be the chief minister of Chhattisgarh prevailed even after all the four contenders — Tamradhwaj Sahu, Bhupesh Baghel, T S Singh Deo and Charan Das Mahant — met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and former party chief Sonia Gandhi. Speculation was rife as Rahul met the four leaders separately as well as in a group through the day. Sources said the issue had been sorted out after Rahul tweeted a picture of all four standing next to him and smiling.
“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team,” Rahul quoted Reid Hoffman to stress the point. Sahu, the lone Lok Sabha Congress member from Durg and the chairman of the OBC department, was initially considered to be front-runner for the top post.
But this made both state unit chief Baghel and former CLP leader Deo unhappy, which they conveyed to Rahul. Sahu reportedly left the meeting in a huff but was soon called back by the Congress chief.
By Saturday evening, a compromise formula allowing rotating the top post between Baghel and Singh Deo for a term of two-and-a-half years each gained ground though party leaders remained tight-lipped over the issue.“Wait till Sunday,” a party insider said referring to the meeting of newly elected lawmakers in the afternoon.
Sources said the AICC managers wanted an OBC leader to head the party government and Baghel, Sahu and Mahant all belong to this category. Singh Deo is an upper caste Thakur and a member of the former Royal family of Ambikapur.
Kamal Nath swearing in
Congress has invited Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for Kamal Nath’s swearing-in on December 17