After the Congress party sacked Kondagaon MLA Mohan Markam as Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress President, he was offered a ministerial berth in Bhupesh Baghel cabinet.
Markam oath swearing ceremony will be held in Chhattisgarh Raj Bhavan in Raipur on Friday. While speaking to media, Markam said, he has been intimated by the High Command that he will be offered a new role.
It has been hinted that one more MLA can be appointed as Minister on the very day.
Congress MLA names
The Congress MLAs whose names are in the pipeline are Raipur (rural) MLA Satyanarayan Sharma and MLA Abhanpur cum ex-CPCC President Dhanendra Sahu.
A high level meeting of AICC senior leaders was also held in Delhi on Thursday to finalize the name on the list.
Meanwhile, other-side a photo was also shared by the Chhattisgarh Congress Party in which Mohan Markam and Deepak Baij can be spotted smiling.
The exercise has been carried out to pacify the differences that cropped up within the party, and give media and opposition a message that all is well within the party, the sources said.
However, on the ministerial berth offered to Markam and resignation letter by School Education Minister Prem Sai Singh Tekam, Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel made a scathing attack on the Congress party.
He termed the whole incident unfortunate, unfair and quite insulting for a tribal leader as well as for the community.
The forceful eviction of Markam from state president position and coerced resignation by school education Minister signifies that the things are not going well in the party, Chandel said.
Congress enters into 'damage control' mode
Secondly, offering Minister’s post to the tribal leader Markam indicates that Congress has entered into damage control mode when they found it will act as a major loss on tribal votes. However, it has exposed the differences among leaders, which may lead to fight and divide within the party in coming days, he alleged.
Finally, CM Bhupesh and Congress State in-charge Kumari Selja entered in damage control mode to pacify the differences but it will not work, Chandel said.
However, on the new change in command within the Congress party in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel interacted with media in Raipur and said, “In the Raipur’s plenary session it has been declared fifty percent of the posts will be given to members below the age of 50, and Deepak Baij is only 43, in that context we have started bringing change in the party.”