Several senior and experienced leaders of Congress were left high and dry on Tuesday as party ignored them for a berth in the council of ministers.
As many as nine ministers were inducted into the council of ministers on Tuesday at a grand function at the Police Parade Ground here but the party dumped several key cabinet aspirants and seasoned politicians who had spent decades in the Congress to strengthen it at the grass root level.
Former ministers Satyanarayan Sharma, Rampukar Singh, Dhanendra Sahu, Arun Vora, Manoj Mandawi and Amitesh Shukla were certain to sneak into Bhupesh Baghel cabinet but the party dumped them.
Several senior leaders of the OBC SC, ST who had worked for the party for decades and suffered heavily to install Congress regime after a gap of 15 years, were denied ministerial berth because party got a brute majority of 68 seats in a 90-member house, a top Congress leader and former minister in undivided Madhya Pradesh government, told The Pioneer.
He added that the names picked up for the council of the ministers were highly surprising and selection was definitely not made on the basis of merit.
Congress sources say that several senior leaders have planned to raise the alleged Rs injustice’ issue with party national general secretary and incharge for Chhattisgarh PL Punia and Congress could suffer in upcoming Lok Sabha polls if a reasonable explanation was not offered to them.
Reports say that Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had held a comprehensive discussion with Punia and Congress president Rahul Gandhi last week in Delhi to pick his team and names were decided not on the basis of experience and seniority but largely keeping 2019 Lok Sabha polls gameplan in mind.