C’garh RS Polls: Bhupesh Baghel Emerges Strong Contender For Congress Ticket!
Two RS seats from Chhattisgarh are going to biennial polls on March 16, notification for which is scheduled to be issued on February 26: Reports
RAIPUR: Former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel is seen in the Congress circles here as the front runner in the race for the Rajya Sabha nomination from Chhattisgarh by the party.
Two RS seats from Chhattisgarh are going to biennial polls on March 16, notification for which is scheduled to be issued on February 26.
Terms of two RS members from Chhattisgarh, Phool Devi Netam and Tej Pal Singh Tulsi, are ending on April nine, necessitating the biennial polls to fill their seats.
Both of them are from Congress.
However, the Congress is in a position to retain only one of the two RS seats, falling vacant in Chhattisgarh, considering the strength of the party in the state Assembly.
Of the total 90 seats in the state Assembly, Congress has a strength of 35 while the ruling BJP has 54 members.
The remaining lone Assembly seat is held by the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP).
Sources said that the Congress leadership is toying with the idea of shifting Mr. Baghel to the Central politics by nominating him to the RS from Chhattisgarh.
The Congress leadership will kill two birds in one shot by doing so, a senior Congress functionary said on Saturday, unwilling to be quoted.
This will help the AICC leadership end the current leadership tussle in the Chhattisgarh unit of Congress between Mr. Baghel and state party chief Deepak Baij, hampering the ongoing process of rebuilding the beleaguered party in the state ahead of the 2028 Assembly polls, the Congress leader said.
This apart, the AICC leadership also considers that Mr. Baghel’s organizational skill may be used in strengthening the party in the states going to Assembly polls in the coming months.
Mr. Baghel is currently in-charge of Punjab affairs of the party.
Sources said that factional leaders in the Congress in Chhattisgarh have already alerted their Central leadership that the ruling BJP is currently trying to capitalize on the corruption cases filed against Mr. Baghel to weaken the party in the state.
By shifting Mr. Baghel to the Centre, the Congress leadership will take the steam out of the campaign by BJP against Congress on corruption cases, sources said.
