Baghel gets into 24x7 election mode as Cong eyes second term

By Sundeep Pouranik
Raipur, May 12 With the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh due later this year, the Congress is aiming to come back to power again in the state due to the strong leadership of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The CM is seen working in complete election mode and is set to pose a tough challenge to the BJP's style of working round the clock for every election, whether small or big.

Chhattisgarh is one of the states where Assembly elections are going to be held this year. The Congress has a total 71 MLAs in the 90-member Assembly and the grand old party is making all-out efforts to remain in power.

The Chief Minister has started a meetings campaign to interact with the public as well as to gauge the voters' pulse on the ground. He has so far visited nearly 85 of the 90 Assembly constituencies.

The state was ruled by the BJP for nearly one-and-a-half decades but in the Assembly elections held in 2018, the Congress stormed to power with a full majority. Following this poll victory, the Congress later won all the by-elections held in four Assembly constituencies.

However, the Congress suffered a major setback during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, except which the grand old party won most of the urban body polls and panchayat elections. Overall, the Congress has gained politically and electorally in Chhattisgarh as compared to the past poll performances.

The working style of Chief Minister Baghel is such that he is seen making bold administrative changes and trying to implement welfare schemes to reach the common man while his efforts are on to strengthen the Congress politically at the grassroots level.

In order to strengthen the rural economy, the Chief Minister started the Godhan Nyaya Yojana by bringing many of the forest produce under the ambit of the minimum support price. Recently, when the Supreme Court rejected the ban imposed by the Chhattisgarh High Court on not extending reservation up to 58 per cent in government jobs, the process of recruitment in government jobs has also been intensified.

Apart from this, efforts are being made by Baghel to give a new identity to Chhattisgarh. Therefore, festivals are being celebrated with pomp right from the Chief Minister's residence to villages across the state.

State BJP president Arun Sao says, "The Chief Minister has created a record of not fulfilling poll promises made before the elections. The credibility of the Congress has ended, the promises made by the party are still pending. The Chhattisgarh government has neither banned liquor nor halved the property tax, unemployed people neither received allowance and poor people from the state did not get free health treatment upto Rs 20 lakh."

On the other hand, Congress spokesperson Surendra Verma says that Baghel hails from a farmer's family and has a habit of working selflessly. "While the Congress was in the opposition, he was the state party president and undertook a 'padyatra' in the entire state."

"Baghel had taken the padyatra to every village in the state and now when he is the Chief Minister, even then he continues to work hard and visits every Assembly constituency. His visit-meeting campaign is about to be completed and hard work is in his very nature as a farmer."

Political analysts say that there are few leaders in the state's politics who work actively as politic. Chief Minister Baghel is one of those few political leaders who remain active round the clock. While remaining in power he reaches out to the people and is leaving no stone unturned to provide benefits of government welfare schemes to the people.

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