'Won't save Congress from defeat in Chhattisgarh': BJP, AAP on Singh Deo as Deputy CM
NEW DELHI: The BJP and the AAP on Thursday took a dig at the Congress over T S Singh Deo's appointment as Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister and asked if he will be the party's chief ministerial face in the upcoming elections since people have lost faith in the incumbent CM, Bhupesh Baghel.
A scion of the erstwhile Sarguja royal family, Singh Deo is currently holding Health and Family Welfare, Medical Education, Twenty Point Implementation and Commercial Tax (GST) portfolios in the state government.
The ruling Congress announced on Wednesday that party president Mallikarjun Kharge had approved the proposal for his appointment as the deputy chief minister.
Reacting to the development, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said Congress president Kharge appointing Singh Deo as deputy chief minister of Chhattisgarh is "deeply problematic" as it usurps Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's constitutional mandate.
"Before Karnataka, Baghel used to fund the Congress, but soon after winning Karnataka, once an alternate source of funding was available, he was cut to size," the BJP leader charged in a tweet, adding, "It is a case of Gandhis using a regional satrap, an OBC leader, till it was convenient, and then dumping him. Will Singh Deo now be projected as the CM face since Baghel faces massive corruption charges and has become a liability?" Malviya also asked.
Commenting on the development, the AAP's Chhattisgarh in-charge Sanjeev Jha said that with its decision to appoint Singh Deo as deputy chief minister ahead of the state assembly polls, the Congress has accepted that the people of Chhattisgarh do not have faith in Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
"It's a damage control exercise by the Congress high command but it is not going to help the party in the state as Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has caused a lot of losses to the people of the state by looting its resources," Jha told PTI.
The AAP leader asked the Congress to make it clear who will be the chief ministerial candidate of the party in the assembly polls due to be held this year.
"Congress high command has not cleared the party's stand on this. They should clear their stand if Singh Deo will the face of the party and if there is no faith in Baghel now. There is confusion among people and Congress workers as well (on this issue)," Jha added.
BJP Chhattisgarh unit chief Arun Sao on Wednesday said Singh Deo's appointment as the deputy chief minister at the fag end of the government's tenure was an injustice with him, and said the decision will not save the Congress from being defeated in the upcoming assembly elections.
"When time has come to complete the term, Singh Deo has been made deputy chief minister. This is not only insulting to the people of Sarguja but also injustice with Singh Deo," Sao charged.
"The Congress is a sinking ship. With such decisions, the Congress is not going to gain anything. Chhattisgarh people have decided to dislodge the Congress government. Congress is not going to get anything in Chhattisgarh," he added.
Senior BJP leaders and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh said the Congress decision to appoint Sigh Deo as deputy chief minister ahead of the assembly polls will have "far-reaching consequences."
"With this decision, the Congress has accepted that elections in Chhattisgarh will not be contested under the leadership of Bhupesh Baghel," he added.