The fourth Congress leader among the party’s chief ministerial aspirants in Chhattisgarh has been “adjusted” with an important responsibility ahead of the assembly elections due later this year. Speaker Charandas Mahant was on Monday named chairperson of a 74-member jumbo election campaign committee for the state.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved members of four separate committees for the poll-bound state. The most important of the panels is a core committee headed by state in-charge Kumari Selja. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy T.S. Singh Deo, Chhattisgarh Congress president Deepak Baij, state home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu and labour minister Shivkumar Dahariya are the other members of this panel.
The two other committees include the 15-member communications committee headed by agriculture minister Ravindra Choubey and 25-member protocol committee headed by culture minister Amarjeet Bhagat.
Mahant being named to the key post of the election campaign committee chief is being looked upon as a strategy of the Congress to give the senior leader his due respect.
After the 2018 win, Mahant, Singh Deo and Tamradhwaj Sahu were the three other strong chief ministerial aspirants along with Baghel. While there were rumours that Singh Deo who was given health minister portfolio was also promised the chief minister post for half the tenure, Sahu was made the home minister and Mahant was given the post of assembly speaker.
Singh Deo had a public fallout with Baghel over sharing of the chief ministerial tenure in 2021, but the Congress managed to assuage the leader and recently elevated him as the deputy chief minister. Sahu, who already had the powerful home portfolio, was made a Congress Working Committee (CWC) member – a coveted post.
Mahant, who was a Union minister in the Manmohan Singh cabinet in 2013-14, was the only key leader left without an additional important responsibility and the appointment as the head of the poll campaign committee is being looked upon as a way to give him his due, political watchers said. He represents the important Korba assembly constituency and his wife Jyotsna Mahant represents the Korba parliamentary constituency. The family wields a strong political influence in the region.
The committees
The 74-member poll campaign committee includes key members like Chief Minister Baghel, Singh Deo, ministers Tamradhwaj Sahu, Ravindra Chaubey, Mohammad Akbar, Shiv Kumar Dahariya, Kawasi Lakhma, Premsai Singh Tekam and Anila Bhendiya. Former state Congress chief and current minister Mohan Markam, Umesh Patel, besides Rajya Sabha members Rajeev Shukla, Ranjeet Ranjan, Phulo Devi Netam and K.T.S Tulsi are also on the panel.
The communications committee has Rajesh Tiwari and Vinod Verma as its conveners while chief spokesperson of Chhattisgarh Congress Sushil Anand Shukla as its coordinator. The protocol committee has Shiv Singh Thakur as its convener and Ajay Sahu as coordinator apart from 22 members.
