Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday was appointed as AICC senior observer for the ensuing elections.
In a tweet, Bhupesh Baghel said, "Hon'ble National President Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji has instructed me to be an observer for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. It's a big responsibility. I will try my best to live up to the expectations of the top leadership."
Notably, Baghel was also the observer for the Assam assembly election held in March. Winning a total of 50 seats, the Congress lost the election to the BJP that won a majority 75 seats and became the first non-Congress alliance to win two consecutive terms in the state. The Congress, however, gained 26 seats since the 2016 election.
Tension within Chhattisgarh Congress has been rife over the past few days, soon after the change of guard in Punjab where Charanjit Singh Channi took over as the new chief minister following Captain Amarinder Singh’s resignation.
Meanwhile, amid speculation about a possible change of guard in the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel today asserted that his state can never become Punjab, and said the two states bear only one similarity - that of having numbers in their names.
"Chhattisgarh will always remain Chhattisgarh. It cannot become Punjab. The two states have only one similarity that both have numbers in their names," Baghel told reporters at the helipad here when asked that the BJP has equated Chhattisgarh and Punjab over turmoil in the ruling Congress. "Punjab is land of punj (five) aab (water). It is made up of five rivers. Similarly Chhattisgarh has derived its name from 'chhattis' (thirty six) 'garh' (fort). No other states have numbers in their names. There is no other similarity between the two states," he added.
The political corridor in Chhattisgarh has been rife with speculation of possible leadership change in the Congress government soon as around two dozen party MLAs, considered close to Baghel, flew to Delhi in the last three days.
The buzz about possible leadership change began after Baghel completed two-and-a-half years as chief minister in June 2021. The Singh Deo camp claimed the top Congress leadership in 2018 had agreed to hand over the CM's post to him after the government completed half its term.
