Cong Set to Form Govt in Chhattisgarh, But Who Will Be Next CM?

As Congress emerges victorious in Chhattisgarh, who could take the chief minister’s baton?

(From left) Bhupesh Baghel, Tamradhwaj Sahu and TS Singh Deo. 

(Photo: The Quint)

With the Congress emerging as the undisputed winner in the Naxal-affected state of Chhattisgarh, the focus is now on the party to choose its chief minister.

According to media reports, the Congress – which bagged 68 seats in the state – will hold a meeting to decide on the CM face in Raipur on Wednesday, 12 December. The Congress had not announced a CM candidate in the run up to the 2018 Assembly election.

The three leaders in Congress who are seen as chief ministerial hopefuls are TS Singh Deo, Bhupesh Baghel and Tamradhwaj Sahu.

A look at the three Congress leaders who may be appointed the next Chhattisgarh CM:

TS SINGH DEO

File image of Senior Congress leader TS Singh Deo (left).(Photo: The Quint)

Chhattisgarh Congress Vice President TS Singh Deo defeated his closest rival by nearly 40,000 votes to win his third term from Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district

According to a Deccan Chronicle report, he was born in Allahabad on 31 October 1952, to (late) MS Singh Deo, former Chief Secretary of undivided Madhya Pradesh.

TS Singh Deo stayed away from politics for many years despite his family's association with the Grand Old Party, but became a member of the State Congress Committee in 1983.

His first stint in electoral politics came when he was elected as the chairman of the Ambikapur municipal council. He was later made convenor of the Youth Congress' environment cell and was also given charge of the party's Sewa Dal as its president.

BHUPESH BAGHEL

File image of Bhupesh Baghel. (Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Bhupesh Baghel, the president of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee won the Patan constituency in Durg district by nearly 18,000 votes. This is Baghel’s third term from this constituency.

Said to be an influential leader among the backward castes, Baghel has served as a minister in Chhattisgarh and in Madhya Pradesh before it was divided. Born on 23 August 1961 to a farmer family, Baghel joined the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) in 1985 and held the position of President, IYC Durg district (Rural) from 1990 to 1994.

Baghel was assigned with heading the Congress in Chhattisgarh after the party’s top leadership was killed in a deadly Naxal attack in Bastar’s Darba in July 2013.

TAMRADHWAJ SAHU

File image of Congress leader Tamradhwaj Sahu.(Photo: YouTube screengrab)

The current MP from Durg constituency, Congress leader Tamradhwaj Sahu was fielded from Durg Rural seat in the 2018 Assembly elections. He won by a margin of more than 27,000 votes.

He is said to be an influential leader among the OBCs, especially the Sahu community, which is considered to be significant in the state.

According to a report by The Hindu , Sahu hails from a farmer family. He was elected as a panch in rural Durg at the age of 25 and he rose up the ranks, from a block president to the district president and further on in the party’s hierarchy.