TS Singh Deo Reveals Potential Chief Minister Candidate if Congress Emerges Victorious in Chhattisgarh

TS Singh Deo Reveals Potential Chief Minister Candidate if Congress Emerges Victorious in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: The Congress party is expected to have an advantage in the upcoming elections in Chhattisgarh, according to several exit polls. TS Singh Deo, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, expressed relief at the poll results and predicted that the party would win 60 out of the 90 seats in the state.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Mr. Deo addressed speculation about his potential appointment as chief minister if the party’s seat count significantly decreases from the 68 seats they won in the previous election. He stated that all party leaders have reached a consensus to avoid any room for speculation.

Mr. Deo, a senior leader who previously had a feud with Bhupesh Baghel over the chief minister’s position, openly discussed the challenges the party faced as a result of the conflict. He emphasized the importance of unity within the party and stated, “We will not fall into this trap of speculation and groupism. We suffered on this count in the last five years… this two-and-a-half, two-and-a-half turned out to be a big burden. It was very difficult to deal with the situation and led to many situations which were unpalatable. We don’t want a repeat of that.”

The Deputy Chief Minister referred to the claim that the Congress high command had agreed to a rotational chief ministership when the party won in 2018. However, after he was appointed as deputy chief minister, Mr. Deo denied ever discussing a rotational formula, stating that it was a creation of the media.

Addressing corruption allegations raised by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly in relation to the Mahadev App case, Mr. Deo dismissed the BJP’s claim that they would secure at least 30 seats compared to the 15 they won in 2018. He explained that both parties typically have a minimum vote share of 30-32%, and it is the floating vote share of around 10% that determines the majority. He emphasized the importance of waiting for the final results before drawing conclusions.

When asked about the Caste Census advocated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and most members of the INDIA alliance, Mr. Deo stated that Chhattisgarh has not been significantly affected by caste or religious politics. He highlighted the OBC census as a means to frame policies based on the real demographic data of society.

Based on the feedback he has received, Mr. Deo expressed confidence that the Congress party would win 130 out of 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh and form a government there.

Regarding exit polls, Mr. Deo advised caution, stating that different agencies are presenting different figures. He suggested waiting for the final results to get a clearer trend and idea of the election outcome.