Truce ahead of polls: Congress makes TS Singh Deo Chhattisgarh Deputy CM

The meeting came hours after the high command sat with the leadership of the state to brainstorm for the Assembly elections due in November-December.

“Elections are coming. We need to do some balancing. Singhdeo, after all, is a leader of stature,” a senior leader told The Indian Express.

(From left) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and TS Singh Deo. (File)

Asked whether Singhdeo, 70, was happy, the leader said, “I hope he is satisfied… we hope it will send a good message in the state. Remember, we fought the elections in 2018 under a collective leadership. While Baghel was the PCC president, Singhdeo was the CLP leader…we thought we needed to balance a bit. Both Baghel and Singhdeo were agreeable to it.”

Referring to Singhdeo, Venugopal said in a Twitter post: “He is a loyal Congress leader and an able administrator. The state will benefit greatly from his services as Deputy CM. We are confident that the people of Chattisgarh will re-elect the Congress with a thumping majority under the leadership of Kharge ji and Rahul Gandhi ji.”

Incidentally, there was no mention of Baghel’s leadership.

Baghel and Singhdeo had been at loggerheads for long – the tussle between them centering around an unwritten formula of rotational chief ministership, which was reportedly agreed upon between the two in December 2018 when the party came to power in the state. Baghel has always denied the existence of a power sharing pact.

The feud had come to a head in July last year when Singhdeo relinquished the charge of the crucial Panchayat and Rural Development portfolios, citing among other reasons the non-sanction of funds under the PM Awas Yojana.

The move to make Singhdeo the Deputy Chief Minister is an acceptance by the party high command that the Congress cannot go into elections with one of its senior leaders unhappy. “As Deputy Chief Minister, he will now have much more say in the design and execution of the campaign besides selection of candidates. Although late, it is an acceptance of his stature. Baghel, too, is not unhappy,” a leader said.

The party, the leader said, will go into elections under the Chief Minister’s leadership. “In states where we are in power, it is a normal practice to go into elections under the Chief Minister’s leadership. If the party returns to power, the new Chief Minister will be appointed by the high command after taking the views of the newly elected MLAs,” the leader said, signaling that the party will take a fresh call on the Chief Minister in the event of it retaining power.

Earlier in the day, the brainstorming session the Congress high command had with the state leadership saw some leaders expressing concerns over gaps between government and organisation and flagging what they called “dominance” by the bureaucracy in some districts.

Baghel, state Congress president Mohan Markam and Singhdeo were present in the meeting chaired by Kharge and attended by Rahul Gandhi, Venugopal and Selja. The meeting, which was aimed at ensuring coordination between all leaders and making the organisation battle ready ahead of the Assembly elections, did not see any discordant notes coming to the fore. Leaders spoke freely and some pointed out that there were gaps between the government and the organisation.

Some leaders said the bureaucracy needs to be reined in some districts. They felt the party should devise specific strategies to reach out to various caste groups and counter the BJP’s “divisive politics”.

After the meeting, Singhdeo said the party surveys are showing positive results. Asked whether there was any possibility of a change of guard, he said: “There is no question of changing the CM just now.”

This meeting was also attended by Sunil Kanugolu, who was one of the election strategists in Karnataka, signaling that the AICC is keen that he plays a role in Chhattisgarh. The leadership also told the leaders to work unitedly, shedding factionalism.