Chhattisgarh Cong on a strong wicket, but Singh Deo can play spoiler

After suffering poll defeats in successive elections, the Congress today has been reduced to having its own government in only two states -- Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh

Raipur: After suffering poll defeats in successive elections, the Congress today has been reduced to having its own government in only two states — Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Amid a full-blown crisis in Rajasthan between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot over the post of Chief Minister after the former withdrew his candidature for the Congress presidential polls, Chhattisgarh is presently the only state left where the grand old party is not facing an internal rebellion.

---

But that could change anytime given the open tussle between Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel and Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo.

Like in Rajasthan, the power tussle between Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Singh Deo has been raging for some years now.

The Congress returned to power in Chhattisgarh in 2018 after nearly one-and-a-half decades, winning a two-thirds majority in the state.

The political situation in Chhattisgarh could spiral out of control given the tussle between Baghel and Deo centered around an unwritten formula of rotational chief ministership which was agreed upon between the two in December 2018 in the presence of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi when the party came to power.

Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh will be held after nearly a year and it is imperative for the Congress in the state to maintain a united front.

The Congress is in a robust position in Chhattisgarh since it has 71 MLAs in the 90-seat Assembly. The BJP has 14 MLAs, the Bahujan Samaj Party has 2 and the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh has three MLAs.

The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister has reiterated many times of setting a target of winning 71 Assembly seats in the 2023 elections.

On the other hand, in Madhya Pradesh, the internal rift between veteran Congress leader and the then Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who later joined the BJP, escalated to an extent that the party lost power in the state.

As far as Chhattisgarh is concerned, there is coordination between the government and party organisation, while state Congress president Mohan Markam is busy working for the party.

Political analyst Rudra Awasthi says that the Bhupesh Baghel-led government in Chhattisgarh has created a pro-Chhattisgarh image and has made the state’s identity a part of the common man’s life. Baghel also did not face any challenge from within the government and from the party organisation. This is why there is no crisis before the Chhattisgarh government.

There is no open political rift and factionalism within the Congress visible in Chhattisgarh. There have been rumours doing the rounds from time to time about a possible rift within the Congress in the state but no party leader has openly revolted against the government.

Analysts associated with Chhattisgarh politics believe that the environment here is not conducive for confrontational and aggressive politics. This applies to both the BJP as well as the Congress because right from the common man to a politician, there is more emphasis laid on coordination than on aggression.