Bhupesh Baghel’s Chhattisgarh Congress government faces challenges on multiple fronts
Published Date – Sat 13 May 23 at 09:45pm
Raipur: The Chhattisgarh Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel faces challenges on many fronts that could spell major trouble for the ruling party in an election year.
These challenges come from outside the party as well as from within the party.
In terms of MLA strength, Congress is in a strong position and the BJP is “in no position” to challenge it in any way. Still, the actions of the central investigative agency and the infighting within the party give the impression that the state’s Bhupesh Baghel-led government is in growing trouble.
Several administrators in the state have had to go to jail in the past, and their possessions have raised a lot of suspicion. In addition, there have been arrests in the coal industry; and now, cases of alleged liquor fraud are surfacing in the state, sparking new debate.
The involvement of the Congress government and its key leaders in these cases has not been directly disclosed, but the brother of Raipur Mayor Ejaz Dhebar has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alcohol fraud.
Corruption allegations against those linked to the state government and a surge in Maoist activity have become major challenges for the ruling party. Beyond that, there are leaders who are dissatisfied with how their governments are functioning.
It was also said that Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagra and State Minister TS Singh Deo were not on good terms.
The BJP called the Congress government in the state a “scam government”. BJP MP Sunil Soni said Chhattisgarh “is ashamed of all the scams committed by the Congress government over the past four and a half years, some of which fall under the category of ‘crimes against humanity’.”
“Part of the liquor scam, the Rs 2,000-crore scam, has evidence now,” he claimed.
“The ED has confiscated billions of rupees of coal and other scams in the state so far, but the Rs 5,000 crore rice scam carried out by Bhupesh Baghel has put humanity to shame,” the BJP MP said.
Meanwhile, Congress Speaker Dhananjay Singh Thakur said the BJP would not pose “any challenge” to the state government.
“This is because there is nothing wrong with the BJP. They just want to tarnish the government’s image by making false and fabricated allegations,” he said.
“As far as the ED’s actions are concerned, the central agency is only active in those states that have non-BJP governments. The ED has not even been able to produce any documents in one of the actions taken so far,” Thakur said.
