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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, NOV 10: Congress leader from Chhattisgarh Vidya Charan Shukla hasn’t given up trying to unseat Chief Minister Ajit Jogi: he called on former BJP chief Kushabhau Thakre on Friday evening at the party headquarters to reportedly explore the possibilities of toppling Jogi’s 10-day-old government.
The two leaders were closeted in Thakre’s office-cum-residence for 45 minutes before Shukla sneaked out. He came out of Thakre’s two-room tenement at 5.10 pm and ducked for cover when he spotted TV crews. He hid himself in the adjoining office of former BJP general secretary K.N. Govindacharya, and emerged only after one of his aides signalled him to.
Shukla’s lips were sealed. Thakre, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, said: “I am not well and Shukla dropped in to inquire about my health. We did not discuss politics.”
BJP sources however, claim, that Shukla assured the BJP of support of at least seven Congress MLAs, which could swell if the BJP demands that the Assembly session be convened in Chhattisgarh and Jogi be asked to prove his majority.
Shukla has been camping in Delhi for the last three days, meeting old friends like Sonia’s challenger Jitendra Prasada and former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Two days ago, he had met Sonia Gandhi.
Congress party spokesperson Anil Shastri said the party was in the process of talking to Shukla before reacting to his meeting with Thakre. In fact, Jogi had indicated soon after he was sworn in that he faced a threat not so much from the BJP as much as from within the party.
