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Journalism of Courage
With the second and final round of Chhattisgarh elections now just four days away, senior Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tribhuvaneshwar Saran Singh Deo talks about taking up the post ahead of the polls, the fight the party is facing in his turf Surguja, implementation of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA) rules, and corruption allegations against CM Bhupesh Baghel. Excerpts:
In an earlier interview with The Indian Express, you spoke about not being inclined to contest elections. Have things changed now?
I feel I’m more effective today. The party has given me the honour to work as Deputy Chief Minister and made me a member of its central election committee.
The Baghel government is facing several Enforcement Directorate cases, over coal levy, liquor sales, rice mills, and the agency has said the CM could be the recipient of the ill-gotten money in the Mahadev app case. How many Congress seats will this affect?
Zero. The ED is no longer a reliable factor. Nobody believes in the effectiveness or neutrality of the ED anymore. They see it just as a wing of the BJP.
At Jagdalpur, Rahul Gandhi said land acquisition will need gram sabha consent. Will last year’s PESA rules, in which ‘consent’ was changed to ‘consultation’, be revised again?
This (gram sabha consent) is the Congress’s thinking. Now it’s up to the government to implement it. The thinking of the leadership is evident. The state government won’t go ahead against the will of the people. If the people don’t want something, the government won’t proceed on it.
Your party has supported 33% women’s reservation, but given tickets to only 20% women.
This is a male-dominated society. We are not an egalitarian society where women have an absolute 50-50% position. The first time an American woman contested for President, she did not win. So first talk about advanced and egalitarian America and compare yourself with it, and only then compare Chhattisgarh. Even before the Bill is implemented, we have 20% tickets for women, which is very good. We already have 50% reservation for women in panchayats and local bodies, because that law has been enacted.
When all 14 seats in Surguja division went to the Congress in 2018, the people here hoped you would be the CM. Are you expecting a similar mandate?
Donald Bradman (cricketer) did not score a triple-century every time he went on to the field. This has never happened in the history of politics in Surguja… Though, we would always want that to happen, we expect no less than 10-11 seats from Surguja.
Internal issues in Surguja, with leaders like Chintamani Maharaj and Brihaspat Singh unhappy after losing MLA tickets, are now public.
Chintamani Maharaj is no longer an internal issue. He has joined the BJP. So far, there are no reports that Brihaspat is involved in sabotage.
How will the unfulfilled promise of liquor ban affect women voters?
Liquor ban is not an issue in this election, like it was last time. Still, the Congress has not given up on the matter. When the Congress won power, they had the previous BJP government’s committee report, which said rather than reducing consumption or banning liquor, we should increase the number of beer bars. A committee set up by the Congress has now submitted its report, though there was no time to implement it. I’m hopeful Congress will return to power and take a call on that.
Both the BJP and Congress have promised annual grants for women.
The BJP’s promise is discriminatory against women who are unmarried or are widowed or separated. The Congress is promising much more than that.
Will BJP’s polarisation in Kawardha and Bemetara, and conversion card in Bastar, dent Congress votes?
I doubt it. The results will show this. The people are very mature. It (polarisation) could not dent Karnataka results, which was an encouraging sign of the maturing of the country’s electorate. We are expecting over 75 seats. I’ll be disappointed if we get below two-thirds (60 out of 90). This government has done a lot of good work.
Is ghar wapsi still an issue in Surguja?
Ghar wapsi was a plank created by Dilip Singh Judeo (of the BJP). It was his pet project and he was doing it as an individual, rather than as part of any organisation. Today, no one talks about this.
Last time you played a major role in the Congress manifesto. This time, you kept away from it…
I did not keep away. When P L Punia was PCC in-charge, we all decided at a meeting that we will change people who held responsibilities in the last elections and get new people in. (Mohammad) Akbar Bhai’s name (as Chhattisgarh manifesto committee head) was decided a year-and-a-half ago. I made suggestions and I am happy with the manifesto.
