BJP will not return in MP, has no chance in Chhattisgarh: CM Baghel

Feb 22, 2023

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], February 22 : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday exuded confidence that there was 'no chance of BJP' in the state and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is scared of the Congress.
"BJP is perturbed and scared of Congress. Bharat Jodo Yatra was a success. The public has given a terrific response to the comments made about Rahul Gandhi. BJP, especially its team that trolled, had gone on a back foot during the yatra," Chhattisgarh CM Baghel said while talking to ANI about the raids of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Congress leaders here.
He further said that the 85th Congress general convention, which is being held in Raipur, will prove to be a milestone in the future. "ED raid is right on time to foil this convention. If they are talking about the coal scam, when did it occur? It has been 8 months. What did you unearth? You should have had concrete evidence by now. But you didn't find anything. ED has not released any press releases," he said underscoring that the raids were solely intended to scare the party workers.
He said that the party's national president will arrive in Raipur on Thursday along with all the general secretaries and members of the steering committee. He said that Rahul Gandhi is expected to arrive on Friday and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday.
Ahead of the party's Raipur convention, CM Baghel said that they had talked about youth participation in the Udaipur Chintan Shivir last year and it will be seen here. "Bharat Jodo Yatra came out of brainstorming at that Shivir and Rahul Gandhi completed it. It is true that no political leader has done this recently and it can't be said when will such a record be broken in future. So, it will definitely have an impact," he added.
"Congress leaders from across the country will come here. A road map will be built here for the 2023 Vidhan Sabha elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections," Baghel said.
Lauding the Congress' chief Mallikarjun Kharge's initiative for a united Opposition, the Chhattisgarh CM asserted that the Opposition unity would not hold any meaning without Congress. "The party is there in every state, city and village. Any alliance without Congress would be meaningless. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's initiative is welcome," he added.
When asked about his opinion on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark in the Parliament earlier this month that the ED has united the Opposition, CM Baghel said, "It means that the PM himself is accepting that such actions are taken only against the Opposition and not the ones in the ruling party. Anyway, people involved in ED, CBI, I-T related cases get cleansed as soon as they go to BJP and vice versa. Whatever PM has said is right, he is accepting that ED raids are conducted on Opposition only."
Talking further, he alleged Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for trying to weaken Congress. Baghel said, "TMC and AAP go to only those places wherever Congress is strong. It means they want to weaken Congress. But eventually, people have now understood this. They are not going to be lured...Experience says that they [TMC and AAP] are helping the Bharatiya Janata Party."
He said that he does not believe that the BJP would return in Madhya Pradesh and asserted that the party has "no chance" in Chhattisgarh.
"They stole democracy. There is no chance (for BJP)in Chhattisgarh. When all else fails, they resort to religion or central agencies, but won't succeed here," he added.