The internal conflict in Chhattisgarh Congress, an apparent fallout of the purported chief ministerial post sharing arrangement, escalated on Tuesday with Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo walking out of the state assembly in a huff after saying he cannot continue to attend house proceedings until the state government gives a clear reply on allegations made against him by party MLA Brihaspat Singh.
This led to an uproar in the assembly, leading to adjournment of the house for the day. Later, Singh Deo returned to attend a meeting with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his cabinet colleagues. After the meeting, Singh Deo said to waiting media persons, “my stand continues,” and to a question whether he will attend the house on Wednesday, added “it depends on the outcome.”
Singh Deo refused to elaborate on his statement, suggesting that his meeting with the CM and cabinet colleagues failed to yield positive results. According to sources, Singh Deo might have put forth some conditions during the meeting, possibly strong action against Brihaspat Singh for his apparent indiscipline. He is likely to decide his future move depending on what action the party/government takes in the matter, sources say.
Singh Deo’s supporters have already made demands of removal of MLA Singh from the party and some leaders from the health minister’s hometown have also written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the issue. After the series of happenings on Tuesday, MLAs had started arriving at Singh Deo’s residence from late afternoon.
A show cause notice has been served to MLA Singh in connection with the case.
The issue pertains to MLA Brihaspat Singh making an allegation on Sunday that he had been attacked at the behest of Singh Deo after a scuffle involving the MLA’s cavalcade in Ambikapur town on Saturday night. The MLA had also claimed that he was attacked because he had praised the CM Baghel and said Baghel will continue to be at the helm in the Chhattisgarh government.
Singh Deo is considered to be a top contender for the CM post under the purported sharing formula (for 2.5 years each) devised by the party in December 2018. However, senior leaders of the party have constantly denied that any such arrangement exists. Singh Deo himself has remained non-committal on the issue, saying he would go by the party directives.
The issue had caused uproar in the state assembly on Monday with the opposition demanding a probe into the MLA’s allegation against the minister by a house committee. However, Speaker Charandas Mahant had said the government will make a statement on the matter on Wednesday. Later, Congress Chhattisgarh in-charge P.L. Punia, who abandoned his Delhi trip to return to the state, said the matter had come to an end and everyone including the CM, Singh Deo and MLA Singh had been spoken to.
However, matters took a turn for the worse on Tuesday. In the house, Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu started making a statement wherein he read the details of an FIR filed by MLA Brihaspat Singh in Ambikapur after the alleged attack on his convoy on July 24. The home minister made it clear that the attack was not on Singh but on his cavalcade and the MLA was not present at the spot.
Leader of opposition Dharamlal Kaushik expressed dissatisfaction over the statement saying it did not have any mention about the MLA’s allegation against the health minister and demanded that the MLA and Singh Deo make statements in the house. The speaker said since the MLA or the minister had not made any complaint in the house on the matter, they could not be asked to speak.
Even as uproar on this point was continuing, T.S Singh Deo rose and said, “Now, it is enough. I am also a human being. Everybody knows about my image.” Referring to the speaker, the minister said, “On your direction yesterday, the chief minister had called us in his chamber and a discussion took place. But such a brief statement was made in the house. I don’t think I am eligible to attend the house till the government presents a clear reply on the issue,” and walked out.
Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravindra Choubey told the media persons that Singh Deo might have misunderstood something about the statement of home minister, which just pertained to the incident in Ambikapur on July 24. He said the matter will be resolved.
Later, P.L. Punia, who had left for Delhi on Monday night, called up Singh Deo and the chief minister separately and a meeting was convened. But the statements of Singh Deo after the meeting suggest that the matter remains unresolved as of now.
Punia said the matter will be resolved fully on Wednesday.
A meeting of the chief minister, ministers and senior MLAs was held in the CM's house, in which Singh Deo was not present. A decision on the stand to be taken on Wednesday was expected to be arrived at during the meeting.
Government spokesman and minister Mohammad Akbar, however, told the media that Singh Deo was not angry and that different matters were discussed during the meeting.
