The Congress has cleared a proposal to appoint Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's rival TS Singh Deo as Deputy Chief Minister, ahead of polls in the state.
“INC President Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge ji has approved the proposal for appointment of Sh. TS Singh Deo ji as the Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh,” party general-secretary KC Venugopal said in a tweet.
“He is a loyal Congress leader and an able administrator. The state will benefit greatly from his services as Deputy CM,” the Rajya Sabha member added.
Top leaders of the Congress discussed the party's strategy ahead of the assembly polls slated for later this year in Chhattisgarh.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singh Deo, besides the party's in-charge for the state Kumari Selja and general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal were among the leaders who attended the meeting at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
CM Baghel later said on Twitter that the party was ready for assembly polls and the meeting discussed the changes in the lives of people following the 'Nava Chhattisgarh' model initiated by the Congress government in the state.
Singh Deo and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel have been at loggerheads since the party came to power in the state in 2018.
In June 2021, the rivalry between the two came to the fore for a brief period after Baghel completed half term as chief minister. Singh Deo's supporters claimed that as per an understanding reached in 2018, he was supposed to take over after Baghel completed half of his term.
While Singh Deo later backed down after both the leaders visited Delhi and met the party high command, he voiced opposition to coal mine projects in the Hasdeo Arand forest area of Surguja district, and hinted that the truce was over.
Deo had tendered his resignation as Panchayat Minister, saying no funds were made available to his department and hence no work could be undertaken on the PM Awas Yojna to provide houses to the poor.
(This is a developing story. More details are awaited.)
