Chhattisgarh MLA Brihaspat says 42 MLAs in Delhi to return, meet Rahul Gandhi in Raipur

Amid the escalating Chhattisgarh Congress crisis, MLA Brihaspat Singh in Delhi said that by Monday evening, 42 MLAs will return to Chhattisgarh and will have a meeting with the former party chief Rahul Gandhi when he will visit the state. 

"By today evening, 42 MLAs will return to Chhattisgarh. Party has said that a meeting will be arranged with Rahul Gandhi ji when he visits the state", the Chhattisgarh Congress MLA said. 

On Sunday, Brihaspat Singh had slammed the BJP saying, "In Chhattisgarh, BJP is called 'desi angrez'. RSS workers are trying to mislead our MLAs. They targetted the Madhya Pradesh govt, which led to its collapse. In Punjab, they did the same. They've adapted the divide and rule policy."

"Earlier, RSS workers tried to destabilize the Chhattisgarh govt. Now they are provoking TS Singh Deo. But he is an intelligent & sensible leader, he will not fall for BJP's conspiracy", he had added.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is reportedly set to visit Delhi on Monday and is likely to meet his supporting MLAs who are camped in Delhi. Baghel was supposed to visit Lucknow but was not allowed to land at the airport by the UP government. Baghel has been made Congress' UP observer ahead of polls and amid rumours of change in Chhattisgarh CM.

More on Chhattisgarh Congress Crisis

In 2018, when Congress had defeated BJP by winning 68 of 90 seats in the state, there were four contenders for the CM post- Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu, and Charandas Mahant. Later, the contenders were narrowed down to TS Deo and Bhupesh Baghel with Rahul Gandhi selecting Baghel for the post. As per sources, Congress had agreed to divide the CM tenure between TS Deo and Bhupesh Baghel with each ruling 2.5 years. With Baghel now completing two-and-a-half years in his tenure, TS Singh Deo has asked the party high command to give the CM post to him in the next two months. While Deo has repeatedly hinted at his wish for the CM post, Baghel on the other hand, has said that he would quit his post whenever either Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi tell him to do so. Chhattisgarh is set to go to polls in 2023.

(With ANI Inputs)