In a significant development, Congress on Wednesday night announced the appointment of TS Singh Deo as state Deputy Chief Minister. The announcement came after two meetings in the capital Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and top leader Rahul Gandhi had with Chhattisgarh leadership in the national capital.In a tweet, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said that party presidet Mallikarjun Kharge has “approved the proposal” for Singh Deo’s appointment as the deputy CM of Chhattisgarh.
“He is a loyal Congress leader and an able administrator. The state will benefit greatly from his services as Deputy CM. We are confident that the people of Chattisgarh will re-elect the Congress with a thumping majority under the leadership of Kharge ji and Rahul Gandhi ji,” the tweet said. Singh Deo resigned as the minister of the panchayat raj and rural development in July 2022, accusing the state government of not alloting funds to build houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. At the time of the Congress’s victory in the 2018 assembly elections, there was reportedly an agreement for Baghel and Singh Deo to share power for two-and-a-half-years each. Since 2021, the mid-point of the five year term, Singh Deo has levelled allegations of corruption against Baghel. Chattisgarh will go to the polls later this year, along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.