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Journalism of Courage
As part of its probe into the coal levy case in Chhattisgarh, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 21 raided the premises of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC)’s treasurer Ram Gopal Agrawal.
The next day, the ED officials also arrested IAS officer Ranu Sahu, director in the Chhattisgarh agriculture department, in connection with the case.
According to Congress sources, Agrawal started his stint with the party in the 1980s. He later became a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). He was appointed as the CPCC treasurer in 2013.
He is considered to be close to former (undivided) Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh. Despite being around in the party ranks, Agrawal never contested any election. He is, however, said to have been vying for an Assembly ticket for a while now from his home district Dhamtari.
A source in the Congress’s Dhamtari unit said Agrawal is not a “mass leader” and has been mainly engaged in organisational works behind the scenes. He is known for his “hard work” and “management skills”, said the source. “Agrawal never inspired confidence in senior party leaders. He has not made any efforts to connect with people. He has been in Raipur for the last 15 years.”
The source also said that Agrawal was denied a party ticket from Dhamtari in the 2018 Assembly elections and that he then reportedly “backed another candidate”. The Congress’ Gurmukh Singh Hora had then lost to the BJP’s Ranjana Sahu in the Dhamtari seat by 464 votes. Anand Pawar, a former Congress member who contested as an Independent got over 29,000 votes.
In 2022, Agrawal expressed his wish to contest in the 2023 Assembly polls. He, however, told the media later that he was no longer trying for a party ticket.
Agrawal has also been engaged in various businesses. He started off as a government contractor, working on projects related to the railway department. Today, he has steel industry-related investment in Visakhapatnam, mining investment in Kanker district of the Bastar region, a rice mill in Dhamtari, among other businesses.
In Dhamtari, Agrawal also runs a gaushala (cow shelter) with over 200 cattle.
Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, the state BJP has been hitting out at the Congress on the corruption issue, attacking the ruling party over various alleged scams related to coal, liquor and sand.
The Congress is banking on several welfare schemes implemented by its government, led by CM Bhupesh Baghel, to boost its prospects in the polls.
