Amid crisis in Punjab Congress, Chhattisgarh MLAs reach Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 30 : Amid crisis in Punjab, several Congress MLAs from Chhattisgarh have reached Delhi to meet party in-charge P.L. Punia and seek appointment with Rahul Gandhi.

About a dozen MLAs reached Delhi on Wednesday to show solidarity with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel ahead of the visit of Rahul Gandhi to the state. The MLAs were saying that they have come to request Rahul Gandhi to visit their constituencies.

Brihaspati Singh, one of the loyalists of Baghel, said there is no need for leadership change in the state as all the MLAs are with the Chief Minister.

The rallying of MLAs comes amid talks of rotational chief minister in Chhattisgarh, as the visit of Rahul Gandhi will decide the future of Congress politics in the state. As of now there is a suspense in both the camps -- one led by Chief Minister Baghel and the other led by state Health Minister T.S. Singhdeo.

Mohan Markam, the state Congress President had said the party was busy in the preparation of Rahul Gandhi's visit to Sarguja and Bastar, both tribal belts, and Sarguja is also the stronghold of T.S. Singhdeo. Markam had said he was head of the organisation in the state and does not belong to any camp.

However, dates of the visit of the former Congress President have not been not finalised yet, but he may go on the onset of the second week of October and get a sense of state politics.

While Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is on an overdrive on the issue of development. He has been highlighting the people-friendly policies of the government.

The supporters of Singhdeo have been pushing for a change of guard since incumbent Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel completed 2.5 years in office. Suspense still looms on the issue of rotational chief minister as there is no clarity from the top leadership of the party.