Curtain seems to have fallen for the time being on the public row related to Chhattisgarh Congress internal rift apparently on the rumoured CM post sharing arrangement, with MLA Brihaspat Singh apologizing to health minister T.S Singh Deo in the State Assembly on Wednesday.
Also, the home minister stated in the house that the allegations of the attack made on Singh Deo were baseless.
After this, at around 1 pm and after two adjournments of the house proceedings, T.S Singh Deo arrived in the House. “The matter had ended. We will be fulfilling the future responsibilities as a team,” he told the waiting media persons, indicating curtains for now to the bitter row raging since Sunday.
Earlier, the uproar over the issue continued in the house as the opposition BJP demanded to know why the minister was not in the house and whether he had resigned. They also took up the matter of alleged leak of the statement made by Singh Deo in the House on Tuesday and called it a breach of privilege. The opposition did not allow the proceedings to continue saying that it was a matter of constitutional crisis as a minister had expressed no confidence in the government by leaving the House proceedings and not attending it on Wednesday too. They also alleged that the MLA Brihaspat Singh was forcefully restrained from coming to the House as the MLA was also absent. Congress MLAs vociferously opposed this and pandemonium continued.
However, at this point, the MLA appeared in the House. After this when the proceedings commenced, home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu was called to make a statement. He said that Singh Deo had no link to the incident of attack on the convoy of the MLA in Ambikapur on Saturday night and the allegations against him were false.
This was followed by Brihaspat Singh apologizing in the house. “I had made some allegations on T.S. Singh Deo in a flow of emotions and I apologise if anyone is hurt by my statements,” he said. After some time Singh Deo arrived in the house and the proceedings continued.
The minister had walked out of the Assembly on Tuesday in a huff saying that he cannot continue to attend house proceedings until the state government gives a clear reply on allegations made on him by party MLA Brihaspat Singh. This happened after the home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu read out details of the FIR filed by Singh in Ambikapur on Saturday.
Later, despite a meeting with chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and cabinet colleagues and telephonic intervention of Chhattisgarh Congress in-charge P.L. Punia, Singh Deo had said that his stand (of not attending the House proceedings) continued. Later in the evening, a show-cause notice was served to Brihaspat Singh, indicating that the party had gotten into serious damage control mode.
The issue pertains to the MLA Brihaspat Singh making an allegation on Sunday that he had been attacked on the behest of Singh Deo after a scuffle involving the MLA’s following a vehicle in Ambikapur town on Saturday night. The MLA had also said that he was attacked because he had praised the chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and said that Baghel will continue to be at the helm in the Chhattisgarh government.
Singh Deo is considered to be a top contender for the CM post under the purported sharing formula (for 2.5 years each) devised by the party in December 2018. However, senior leaders of the party have constantly denied that any such arrangement was decided upon. Singh Deo himself has remained non-committal on the issue saying he would go by the party directives.
