Amid talks of leadership change in Chhattisgarh, more MLAs reaching Delhi to join Bhupesh Baghel camp

New Delhi, Oct 02: Amid speculation over the possibility of a leadership change in Chhattisgarh, more Congress MLAs known to be close to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel are likely to reach Delhi today.

The development is being viewed by many as a show of strength but sources in the Baghel camp insisted that the MLAs were reaching Delhi on their own accord and there was no show of strength going on.

The demand for a change of guard reared its head in Chhattisgarh after Baghel completed two-and-a-half years as chief minister in June 2021.

The camp of cabinet minister T S Singhdeo has claimed that the high command in 2018 had agreed to hand over the post to him after the government completed half its term.

Brihaspat Singh, who is known to be close to Baghel and has been camping in Delhi, reiterated on Friday there was no question of a change at the top in the state and the Baghel-led government would complete its full term.
According to a PTI report, around 20 MLAs have already reached Delhi while about 10 more are set to reach the capital late at night.

The Congress high command summoned both Baghel and Singhdeo to Delhi in August to resolve the feud.

It appeared that Baghel had managed to avert for the time being a leadership change when he told reporters in Raipur recently that party leader Rahul Gandhi had agreed to visit the state "on his invitation", and those talking about rotating the CM's post were promoting political instability.