Chhattisgarh minister Singh Deo skips Cong legislature party meet; 'MLAs hurt by language of his resignation letter to CM'

Raipur: Chhattisgarh minister TS Singh Deo, locked in a power tussle with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on Sunday didn't attend the Congress legislature party meeting held at the CM's residence citing "pre-planned engagements", a day after he relinquished a key portfolio.

A state minister told reporters after the CLP meeting that most of the legislators of Congress are hurt over the way Singh Deo has written a resignation letter to the chief minister.

Sources said 64 of the 71 MLAs of Congress attended the CLP meeting.

Singh Deo had given up the charge of the Panchayat and Rural Development department citing reasons like non-allotment of funds by the chief minister for the construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

The Congress legislature party meeting began after 7:30 PM to discuss the July 18 presidential poll and the state Assembly's monsoon session scheduled to begin on July 20, a party leader had said, adding that discussion on Singh Deo's issue could be held.

In the evening, Singh Deo told PTI over the phone that he is in Ambikapur (Surguja district), his hometown and constituency, to attend pre-planned engagements and will not be able to attend the CLP meeting.

He said he will arrive here on Monday to cast his vote for the presidential polls.

A statement issued by Singh Deo's office said the minister touring Ambikapur had earlier informed Secretary of the Legislature Party, Rajesh Tiwari, that he will reach Raipur on Monday for the Presidential election.

Chhattisgarh Agriculture Minister Ravindra Choubey on Sunday night said most of the legislators of Congress are hurt over the way Singh Deo has written a resignation letter to the chief minister. “The way maharaj sahab (a reference to Singh Deo) has written a letter (to the CM), most of the MLAs have raised a big question mark over it. Most of them are feeling hurt over the way he has written about the working of the government,” he added.

Singh Deo had resigned as the Panchayat and Rural Development Minister but continues to hold health and family welfare, medical education, twenty-point implementation and commercial tax (GST) portfolios.

In his resignation letter to the chief minister, Singh Deo had claimed that not a single house was built for homeless people under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as funds were not allotted despite "repeated request".

In the four-page resignation letter, Singh Deo cited various reasons, saying he was unable to fulfil the department's targets as per the vision of the Jan Ghoshna Patra (poll manifesto), given the "current scenario".

When asked about what transpired at the CLP meeting, Choubey said the MLAs told All India Congress Committee's Chhattisgarh in-charge P L Punia, who is on a visit to the state capital Raipur since July 15, that they felt hurt by Singh Deo's letter.

Earlier in the day, Bhupesh Baghel had said he was yet to receive Singh Deo's resignation from the panchayat department and that he learnt about the latter's move through the media.

Punia had said that he had spoken to AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Baghel and Singh Deo on the issue and a necessary decision will be taken on it.

Here's a few excerpts from his explosive resignation letter:

"Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, housing was to be provided to the people of the state, for which I had discussed with you many times and requested for allocation of funds, but the amount could not be made available for the implementation of the scheme. Thereby depriving as many as eight lakh people of the state of the welfare. It would have generated the state's economy of about 10 thousand crores. It is pertinent to mention that during the tenure of the present government, not a single house could be built for the homeless people and the progress of the scheme remained stagnant."

"After the approval of the minister, a process was made to take the final decision by the committee of the Chief Secretary, which is contrary to the protocol. I have lodged an objection in writing from time to time. But till today this system could not be rectified, as a result, more than 500 crores could not be used for development works as per the suggestions of Minister/MLA/Public Representative. At present, many development works have not started in the Panchayats."