NEW DELHI/RAIPUR: The ongoing power struggle within the Chhattisgarh Congress took a new turn with the party’s leadership directing Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to respect the agreement of rotational CM he accepted two-and-a-half years ago and smoothly transfer power to his cabinet colleague T S Singh Deo.
The Baghel camp hasn’t yielded yet, as a large number of MLAs on his side, including a couple of ministers and some senior leaders, flew into Delhi late Thursday evening to parade their support before the party high command.
Baghel is scheduled to meet former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday. Rahul had met both Baghel and Deo early this week sort out the mess.
“During the meeting, Baghel was told to follow the rotational formula he had agreed to after the Assembly elections in 2018. The party wanted to do this through consensus but now he is getting his camp MLAs to put pressure to stay in power,” said sources, adding the change of guard is unlikely to be easy now. Baghel’s tenure reached its halfway mark on June 17.
For his part, Deo claimed there was no such power sharing formula. Both leaders have, however, maintained that they will abide by decision of party high command.