Congress MLA Brahaspat Singh is facing protests from within the party after he alleged that his convoy was attacked in Surguja district at the behest of state health minister TS Singh Deo on Saturday evening.
A faction of Congress leaders in Balrampur, where Singh hails from, sanctioned a motion against him and wrote to the party high command for his expulsion on Tuesday. Congress workers in Koria and Ambikapur, too, staged a protest against the MLA.
Singh had alleged that the attack conspired because he had praised Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and said he will continue to remain at the helm, amid talks about a purported formula for sharing of the CM’s post.
Singh Deo, who represents Surguja constituency, however, had said that people in his area and in the state know about him very well as his image is in the public domain, and he has nothing more to say on the issue.
Meanwhile, raising the issue in the House, BJP MLAs, including Brijmohan Arawal and Ajay Chandrakar, said the allegations are serious as a ruling party MLA has accused his own government’s minister of trying to get him killed.
When a ruling party legislator is not feeling safe in his government, then how can Opposition members feel protected? It is the matter of safety of every MLA and therefore, the House should take suo moto cognisance of the matter and get it probed by a committee of the House,” they said. Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik said it was an unfortunate incident not only for Congress but also for the entire state as such allegations were never levelled by a lawmaker in the history of Chhattisgarh.
Facing trouble from within, the grand old party called in state in-charge PL Punia for mediation. Punia, who was leaving for Delhi, retreated from airport and headed straight to assembly for having a close-door meeting with two leaders in question and Chintamani Maharaj, an MLA from Sarguja. Senior MLA Satyanarayan Sharma was also summoned to the meeting.
Later, Punia had a meeting with CM Baghel and was accompanied by Singh Deo as he left the assembly. “The issue is now over,” he said while leaving.
Home minister Tamrdhwaj Sahu has also intervened in the matter and said that the MLA wasn’t assaulted. His security car was hit by a stone and we will get it probed, said the minister.
On Saturday night, one of the vehicles of Ramanujganj MLA Singh was pelted with stones in Sarguja and the driver and the security guard were manhandled, said sources. It was alleged that the dispute took place with a relative of Singh Deo. The MLA later headed to police station and based on the driver’s complaint the police lodged an FIR and arrested three.
On Sunday, he held a press briefing and alleged that the ‘murderous attack’ was planned on him by minister Singh Deo.
Janta Congress Chhattisgarh chief Amit Jogi also joined the debate and tweeted that Singh Deo is being “framed in a fake accusation” like he and his father Ajit Jogi were falsely dragged in Jhiram valley attack.
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