Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said that during his visit to Delhi, he did not meet the Congress high command, but held talks with party leaders from Himachal Pradesh to devise a strategy for the upcoming assembly polls in their state.
Mr Baghel, who has been appointed as senior observer by the party for Himachal Pardesh assembly polls, was talking to reporters at Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur after returning from Delhi this evening.
"A meeting was held with the party leaders from Himachal Pradesh, including state Congress chief and Congress legislature party (CLP) leader and those who have been assigned responsibilities (for polls). In view of the upcoming polls (in Himachal), serious discussion was held on how the organisation would go among voters and with which issues," Mr Baghel said when asked about his tour to Delhi.
Mr Baghel's Delhi visit came at a time when he is locked in a power tussle with his cabinet colleague TS Singh Deo. The latter had recently quit one of the ministries he held.
Mr Baghel had left for Delhi on Saturday evening, while Singh Deo, who was in Bhopal, had also gone to the national capital the same evening. Sources close to PTI had said that both the leaders were likely meet the Congress high command there.
When asked about health minister Mr Singh Deo's presence in Delhi and whether any discussion was held with the party high command, Mr Baghel said there was no meeting with top brass of the party and he had gone there for talk to the party leaders from Himachal Pradesh.
According to party sources close to PTI, Mr Baghel was expected to meet senior party leaders as the rift in the ruling Congress deepens after Singh Deo's resignation from the ministry of panchayat and rural development recently.
Sources close to Singh Deo had said that he had left for Delhi from Bhopal on Saturday evening seeking a meeting with the top Congress leaders. However, whether he met the party high command or not could not be known so far.
Singh Deo had resigned as the minister of panchayat and rural development on July 16, although he retained his other portfolios.
In his four-page resignation letter to the chief minister, Mr Singh Deo had claimed that he was unable to fulfil the targets set for the rural development department as per the Jan Ghoshna Patra (poll manifesto), given the "current scenario".
In June 2021, the rivalry between Mr Baghel and Mr Singh Deo had come to the fore for a brief period after Mr Baghel completed two-and-a-half years as chife minister.
Mr Singh Deo's supporters claimed that as per an understanding reached in 2018, he was supposed to take over after Baghel completed half the term.
While Mr Singh Deo later backed down after both the leaders met the party high command in Delhi, he recently voiced opposition to coal mine projects in the Hasdeo Arand forest area of Surguja district, and hinted the truce was over.
Mr Baghel on Thursday handed over the Panchayat and Rural Development portfolio to senior minister Ravindra Choubey.
Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh are more than a year away.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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