New Delhi: Chhattisgarh Congress chief Deepak Baij has defended the party’s decision to not give tickets to 22 sitting MLAs in the state assembly elections scheduled for next month and said that while there was some “resentment”, none of these legislators will be leaving the party.
On Sunday (October 22), the Congress released its third and final list of seven candidates. Earlier, the party had released two separate lists with 30 and 53 candidates each. Chhattisgarh will vote in two phases, on November 7 and 17.
Speaking to The Wire, Baij, the sitting MP from Bastar who is contesting the state elections from Chitrakoot constituency this time, said that the party had decided to focus on “winning candidates”.
“This was the party’s decision. We have said from the very beginning that since a government has to be formed again in Chhattisgarh, we will only give tickets to winning candidates. The high command and the party have taken this historic decision. We are all fighting together and we will form the government in Chhattisgarh,” he said.
When asked about differences within the party on account of the sitting MLAs being denied tickets, Baij said that discussions were held with those who were upset.
“There is some resentment [among the members] and that is natural. If someone’s ticket is cut, then they will feel upset and some resentment. But we have had discussions with everyone and spoken with them and no one will leave the party and everyone will help the party win the election,” he said.
The Congress is looking to retain power in the state after it trounced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2018 elections. The saffron party had been in power in the state since 2003.
The Congress won 68 of the 90 seats in the 2018 elections.
Baij said that the party is looking to repeat such a performance by highlighting the achievements of the Bhupesh Baghel government.
“Our objective is to highlight farmers’ issues, youth issues, and the welfare of women and children of Chhattisgarh, along with education and health. In these sectors, our government has done good work and these are the issues that we will take to the people. We will also highlight the good work that we plan to do in the coming years,” he said.
From left: Congress Chhattisgarh in-charge Kumari Selja, deputy chief minister T.S. Singh Deo and chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Photo: Twitter/@bhupeshbaghel
Corruption cloud
While the Congress is looking to highlight its achievements, the BJP has made the incumbent government’s alleged corruption its main election plank.
The BJP has accused the Baghel-led Congress government of a series of scams. This includes the alleged multi-crore public distribution system (PDS) scam and an alleged Rs 5,000 crore scam in the free grains scheme, which was launched by the Union government to provide support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the Enforcement Directorate is probing the Rs 2,161-crore liquor scam case, in which senior government functionaries have been arrested and their bail pleas have been rejected by the Chhattisgarh high court recently. The incumbent government is also facing allegations of a coal levy scam, in which two Congress MLAs and an IAS officer are named as accused.
In an interview with The Wire, former chief minister Raman Singh, who is fighting from his traditional seat of Rajnandgaon for the BJP, said that the saffron party will make corruption the “biggest issue” in this election.
Baij said that the BJP is raising allegations of corruption in a bid to “defame” the Congress government.
“The BJP has no issues to talk about. Through the ED and IT, they are trying to defame the Chhattisgarh government. Secondly, did scams not take place during the 15 years of BJP rule? Did the Rs 36,000-crore PDS scam not take place? There were over 50 scams – small and big – under the BJP. The Union government should probe those, but they are not doing so. These allegations [against the Congress government] do not have a grain of truth. Our government has done good work for the people and we will go to the people on the basis of this work and form the government again,” he said.
While the BJP has not announced its chief ministerial candidate in the state, raising questions about a leadership vacuum in the state, sitting Durg MP Vijay Baghel has been fielded to take on his uncle Bhupesh Baghel, in the Patan constituency.
Bhupesh Baghel is a five-time MLA from the area. His candidature is being seen as a bid to woo voters from OBC communities.
Baij, however, said that the “BJP is not in a position to give us a direct fight”.
“We will conduct a caste survey after coming to power and this will benefit those whose numbers are more but are not able to access the fruits of development. The chief minister is fighting from Patan and he will win with a record number of votes. There is no challenge and Vijay Baghel’s candidature will not make any difference,” he added.
‘Union government taking credit for our good work’
Baij, the Bastar MP, claimed that the Modi government is trying to take credit for the Chhattisgarh government’s achievements in reducing Maoist violence.
Union home minister Amit Shah’s claim said at a rally in Bastar’s Jagdalpur last week, “In nine years of the Modi government, incidents of (Naxal) violence declined by 52%, deaths (in Maoist violence) came down by 70%, civilian deaths decreased by 68%, while the (number of) Naxal-affected districts declined by 62%.”
Baij said that peace in the Maoist-affected regions is due to the work done by the Congress government over the past five years. “The Union government is trying to take credit for the good work done by the Chhattisgarh government. These are double standards in the Union government’s policies and this won’t work. Amit Shah says something, [BJP president J.P.] Nadda says something else. Different leaders are saying different things and they are not on the same page on this [matter] either. But the Chhattisgarh government has done good work and there is peace in Bastar,” he said.
In February, Nadda had said that Naxal activities had increased in Chhattisgarh under the Congress government.
For the first time in independent India, residents of more than 120 villages in Bastar will vote in their own settlements in the assembly polls. Polling stations will be set up in these places, which were earlier Maoist strongholds, and voters had to earlier trek 8-10 kilometres to cast their vote.
Baij said that this development was made possible due to the policies of the Congress state government.
“Our government has worked to develop those interior villages where rations would not reach, where there was no electricity, water, roads, hospitals, and schools. As a result, there is peace in these areas now. They will vote in favour of the Congress,” he said.
“For Adivasis, our government has worked very well and we will plan better in the next five years. In these interior villages, the BJP did not open ration shops, did not help people with receiving their Aadhaar cards, and did not provide electricity, health, and education. Our government has delivered vikas [progress]. We have opened ration shops. There were none. We have made Aadhaar cards for people. We have built schools and hospitals. If the BJP thinks they have constructed a building on the roads initially built by us and calling it vikas, then good for them,” he said.
When asked about the security situation in these villages, Baij said that “tight security” measures have been implemented and camps have been set up to ensure a peaceful polling process.