The Congress party on Wednesday appointed senior leader T.S. Singh Deo as the Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh just months ahead of the assembly elections. The announcement came hours after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge chaired a crucial meeting in Delhi to discuss the poll strategy in the state.
“Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge ji has approved the proposal for the appointment of Shri T.S. Singh Deo ji as the deputy chief minister of Chhattisgarh,” party general secretary K.C. Venugopal said in tweet.
Calling Singh Deo as a loyal Congress leader and an able administrator, Venugopal said the state will benefit greatly from his services as Deputy CM.
"We are confident that the people of Chattisgarh will re-elect the Congress with a thumping majority under the leadership of Kharge ji and Rahul Gandhi ji," he said.
Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh are due later this year.
Earlier, both Singh Deo and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel attended the meeting at AICC headquarters in the national capital. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party state in-charge Kumari Selja were also present.
Taking to Twitter after the meeting, Baghel said the Congress is ready for the assembly polls and the meeting discussed the changes being brought in people's lives through the 'Nava Chhattisgarh' model.
Both Singh Deo and Bhagel have been at loggerheads since the party came to power in the state in 2018. Singh Deo claimed earlier that the party leadership had promised that he and Baghel would hold the chief minister's post alternately, a claim rejected by Baghel.