Raipur (30.06.2023): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge put paid to the tussle between Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Senior Minister T S Singh Deo by appointing the later as Deputy Chief Minister.

This could be dubbed as a clever move by the Congress president to end the tussle in a state where the Congress is likely to return to power. Elections are barely four months away.

The decision came on a day the party’s top leadership, including Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal, discussed the strategy for the upcoming elections at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters. Gandhi and Kharge had a separate meeting with Baghel where the decision is said to have conveyed to him. 

The Chhattisgarh peace formula will also be significant for the poll-bound Rajasthan, where Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is locked in a leadership tussle with his former deputy, Sachin Pilot, and the party high command is trying to resolve the dispute.