Chhattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uikey was also a frontrunner for Indian presidency but the BJP-led NDA foiled her chances due to her Congress  background, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Thursday.

Talking to reporters at the   airport here after returning from Delhi, Baghel also accused the BJP of trying to topple the Shiv  Sena-led and Congress-supported   government in Maharashtra.

The BJP-led NDA on Tuesday named Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha, as its   candidate for the July 18  presidential election.

Asked about the NDA fielding a tribal leader, Baghel said: “Anusuiya Uikeyji (who hails from a tribal community) was also in the line but she didn’t get a chance because she has a Congress  background." She was a former Congress MLA.

Asked about some Shiv Sena MLAs' claim that they were  forcefully shifted to Surat, Baghel said: “The way policemen were pushing the Shiv Sena MLAs going to Assam from the Surat  airport, it is clear it is a horse-trading.

"When Narayan Rane, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Mukul Roy were in opposition, cases were filed against them by the Enforcement Directorate or Income Tax department. But when they switched to BJP or some other parties, everything became alright.

"Everyone understands that when they go to the BJP camp, everything becomes clean,” he added.

Baghel said the BJP was out to destabilize governments in states where its political opponents were in power.

“The BJP is not able to tolerate governments of opposition parties in states and engages in destabilizing them. Earlier they did it in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Even here in Chhattisgarh they were trying to do that. Sometimes they use ED, sometimes IT.

“Earlier, during the Raman Singh government in the state, phones of opposition leaders, bureaucrats, journalists and even ruling party leaders were tapped. It is in their nature,” Baghel added.