In a bid to woo the dissatisfied party leaders, the Bhupesh Baghel led government of Chhattisgarh has decided to move 38 posts out of the ambit of the office of profit. The state government took this decision to accommodate party MLAs in different boards and corporations. Afterwards, Bhupesh Baghel’s government has moved forward a bill to amend the ‘Chhattisgarh Vidhan Mandal Sadasya Nirarhata Nivaran Vidheyak 1967’ which allowed the Congress Government to add these 38 posts in the schedule so that any elected MLA can hold these posts without being disqualified.
Speaking of the issue, an official stated that after the amendment is passed in the assembly, it would come into effect from January 1. In a similar note, a party leader said many MLAs are feeling left out on not being accommodated in the state cabinet. “We need to accommodate them. This is why the nigam posts have been taken out of the ambit so that MLAs can be appointed in boards,” said the leader.
Earlier, days after the selection of Bhupesh Baghel as CM created so much of a political stir in the state and there were reports in Patrika that around 25 newly elected MLAs of the Congress party weren’t satisfied with the apparent choice of the Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh. In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Grand Old party has feared that many dissatisfied leaders may join The BJP, so it does not want to take any chances by leaving any big leader unhappy, said the party leader.
Interestingly, the Congress was claimed to have regained its voter base after the victory in the Hindi-heartland state after winning 68 seats in the 90-member state assembly. However, the latest move of the Baghel government showed the hollow confidence of the Congress party. This is not the only amendment that the Congress party had done in order to keep their party leadership intact. Earlier, the state Assembly had passed a resolution to increase the cabinet strength to 20% of the total assembly strength. The resolution has been sent to the Centre.
Moreover, the posts that are proposed to be removed from the list of office of profit include the Chhattisgarh Film Development Corporation Raipur, Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Bank, Third Gender Welfare Board, Chhattisgarh Sindhi Academy, and Chhattisgarh Urdu Academy.
The Grand Old party has failed to pacify factionalism within the party. Just like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Chattisgarh is also plagued by factionalism. Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party is still not sure of stitching-up alliance with regional parties for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and then voices of dissent coming from the party cadre is like nail in the coffin to the dream of Congress party of winning the Lok Sabha election.