In Chhattisgarh poll panels, Cong balances castes, factions; Speaker Charan Das to head campaign

AICC names Kumari Selja as convener of Core Committee whose members include CM Baghel, his deputy Singh Deo, CPCC chief Baij, and Ministers Tamardhwaj Sahu and Dahariya

This is the second consecutive time that senior Congress leader Charan Das Mahant, 72, has been picked as the head of the party's poll campaign panel for the Assembly polls. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

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The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Monday constituted various committees of the Chhattisgarh Congress for the upcoming state elections, appointing the Assembly Speaker Charan Das Mahant as the Election Campaign Committee chairperson and party general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh Kumari Selja as the Core Committee convener. The Assembly elections in the Congress-ruled state is due in November this year.

This is the second consecutive time that senior Congress leader Charan Das Mahant, 72, has been picked as the head of the party’s poll campaign panel for the Assembly polls. He had been a minister in the state and central governments in the past.

Apart from his vast legislative and administrative experience, Mahant, an OBC leader, is also seen as a “neutral face” accepted by various party factions in the state.

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Besides Selja, the seven-member Core Committee comprises Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) president Deepak Baij, Deputy CM T S Singh Deo, Mahant, Home Minister Tamardhwaj Sahu, and Minister Shiv Kumar Dahariya.

While Baghel, Mahant and Sahu belong to three different, politically-influential sub-castes of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Baij is seen as a rising tribal leader from the Bastar region. A known rival of CM Baghel, Singh Deo belongs to the erstwhile royal family of the tribal-dominated Surguja region.

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Of the 90-member state Assembly, 29 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) while 10 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Congress sources said the 59-year-old three-time MLA Dahariya is a key Dalit face of the party and was hence named as a core panel member over other senior leaders such as Satyanarayan Sharma, a seven-time MLA, and Minister Jaysingh Agrawal, a three-term MLA.

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The 74-member Campaign Committee includes CM Baghel, Singh Deo, several Ministers, MLAs, MPs and senior leaders including Mohan Markam, who was removed from the post of the CPCC chief a few months ago apparently due to differences with Baghel.

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Markam, who was later appointed as a minister, said, “The 74-member team will do immensely well under the leadership of Mahant ji who is very experienced. We will come back to power.”

A Congress insider said the party’s campaign panel is a “perfect blend of experienced leaders and young sincere faces”. “Experienced tribal leaders like former MLAs Ganga Potai and Pushpa Devi Singh are in the committee along with relatively younger leaders like Ravi Ghosh and Malkeet Singh Gaidu, who are general secretaries,” said a leader.

Two state party leaders, RP Singh and Vinod Verma, whose names featured in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probes in different cases, are part of the Communications Committee, headed by Minister Ravindra Choubey, with Verma being named as one of its conveners.

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The AICC has appointed Minister Amarjeet Bhagat as the chairperson of the Protocol Committee.