Raipur: Bharatiya Janata Party chief state spokesperson and Rajnandgaon MP Santosh Pandey attacked the Congress party and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, stating that the opposition party was attempting to blame others for its internal factionalism.
Addressing the media in Raipur on Tuesday, Pandey said recent clashes in Assam stemmed directly from internal squabbles within Congress. Video footage showed party workers clashing among themselves, he noted. Similar scuffles took place at the airport during the Bihar assembly elections, Pandey said, alleging that controversy followed Baghel everywhere. Congress faced defeat in Assam, leading its leaders to issue baseless statements to cover up failures, he said. Pandey added that Baghel had no moral right to speak on law and order, noting that Assam benefited from governance under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Questioning the record of the previous Congress administration in Chhattisgarh, the BJP MP noted that during Baghel’s tenure, movement in regions like Bijapur, Sukma, Dantewada, and Narayanpur was difficult after dark, with BJP campaigners barred from entering interior pockets. Today, people travel freely to remote border villages, including Manpur-Mohla and Lachhna-Katemam, he said.
Targeting Congress on national security, Pandey recalled that in 2017, senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz defended stone-pelters in Kashmir, cautioning against labelling them misguided. Congress consistently showed sympathy for such elements, he alleged.
Hitting back at Pradesh Congress Committee president Deepak Baij’s allegations, Pandey stated that open infighting plagued Congress at every level, citing the dispute between T S Singhdeo and Brihaspati Singh in Surguja. Congress must educate its top leaders against factionalism during its ongoing worker training camps, he added.
