Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will meet with Rahul Gandhi for the second time this week and is bringing Congress MLAs to Delhi for a show of strength in an escalating leadership crisis in the state.
Bhupesh Baghel will meet the Congress leader tomorrow, say sources, as he holds tight to a job endangered by his own minister, TS Singh Deo, who has demanded rotational chief ministership.
It was on this promise that Mr Singh Deo apparently agreed to stand down in 2018 and settle for a ministry job as Mr Baghel took over as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.
Mr Baghel's government completed two-and-a-half years in office - a half term -- in June. Mr Singh Deo has demanded that the party make good on its promise, one that the party has never officially acknowledged.
Both Mr Baghel and Mr Singh Deo met with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday.
Mr Baghel, said to have been put on notice, told reporters he would abide by the party's decision. But he defiantly returned to Chhattisgarh capital Raipur after being asked to stay put for a while.
He told reporters in Raipur: "I will step down when Sonia (Gandhi) and Rahul Ji order me. Those talking about a 2.5 year plan are trying to bring political instability but they will never succeed."
Mr Singh Deo has not returned to Chhattisgarh since the meeting. Sources say he will not unless the Congress comes to a decision.
Asked by reporters on his claim to chief ministership, he had said: "On the leadership issue we have agreed to the decision of the high command."
Congress's Chhattisgarh in-charge PL Punia had claimed that Tuesday's discussions were mainly on state-related subjects, not any leadership crisis. "Bhupesh Baghel has agreed to whatever decision the high command takes. He says he will be the Chief Minister as long as they wish," Mr Punia said, adding that "at present Baghel is Chief Minister."
Sources close to Mr Singh Deo say he has reached a point of no return and will not settle for anything less than the top post. He "won't join the BJP" but can't work under Mr Baghel anymore, they say.
The crisis in Chhattisgarh, on top of the unrelenting Punjab feud, has become a huge challenge for the Congress, especially for the Gandhis.
After winning the Chhattisgarh election in 2018, the Congress had negotiated a delicate compromise with Mr Baghel's rivals Mr Singh Deo and Tamradhwaj Sahu.
Rahul Gandhi had tweeted a photo with the leaders, in a show of unity, with the message: "No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you're playing a solo game, you'll always lose out to a team. - Reid Hoffman."
Since Mr Gandhi tweeted this and other displays of unity - with Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia (Madhya Pradesh) and with Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot (Rajasthan) - every Congress-ruled state has struggled with power tussles.
Neither Mr Baghel nor Mr Singh Deo look ready to compromise.
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