Bhupesh Baghel

Coal levy 'scam': SC extends interim bail of ex-Chhattisgarh CM's dy secy

The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the interim bail of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia, an accused in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal-levy scam. The apex court had on September 25 granted her interim bail, noting that she had already undergone custody of more than one year and nine months and charges were yet to be framed. The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan. The bench sought to know about the current status of the case. Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, appearing for Chaurasia, said the trial has not yet commenced. "Interim bail to continue," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing in the last week of January. The top court was hearing Chaurasia's plea challenging an August 28 order of the Chhattisgarh High Court which had denied her bail. In its September 25 order, the apex court had directed the state government not to reinstate her in service

Congress getting good signals for upcoming Maharashtra polls, says Baghel

Baghel said two days are left for the nomination filing and the process of ticket distribution is also in the final stage

Maharashtra Assembly polls: Gehlot, Baghel among Congress' poll observers

Maharashtra elections: The Congress has named former Union Minister Mukul Wasnik and AICC General Secretary Avinash Pande as state election senior coordinators

Why Centre not shutting down Mahadev betting app: Bhupesh Baghel

BJP-led Chhattisgarh government handed over the investigation of the Mahadev betting app case to the CBI

Several EVMs changed after polling in Rajnandgaon LS seat, says Baghel

Senior Congress leader and Chhattisgarh's former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday alleged that several Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and VVPAT units were changed after polling in the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat, from where he contested the elections. Baghel claimed the numbers of several EVMs used in the April 26 voting in Rajnandgaon provided by the Election Commission of India (ECI) does not match with details of machines of the booths concerned mentioned in Form 17 C. However, the returning officer of Rajnandgaon denied any irregularities or mismatch in numbers. In a post on his X handle on the Lok Sabha poll counting eve, the former CM said, "The Election Commission had given the numbers of the machines which were used in the voting. This includes (numbers of) ballot unit, control unit and VVPAT. "According to the information mentioned in Form 17 C after the voting in my constituency Rajnandgaon, the numbers of several machines have changed. The booths where the ...

Rahul could not attend rally as permission denied to land chopper: Baghel

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday claimed that authorities did not permit Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's helicopter to land in Barabanki where he had to attend a rally, but the district administration denied the allegation as "baseless". Addressing the Nyay Sankalp rally organised in Haidergarh here, Baghel alleged that Rahul Gandhi could not come to Barabanki as the district administration did not issue permission for the landing of his helicopter till late at night as the BJP was "scared" of Gandhi. Countering the Congress leader's charge, District Magistrate Satyendra Kumar, in a statement issued here, said that Congress Lok Sabha candidate Tanuj Punia had applied for permission for a helipad at Rahul Gandhi's rally venue on May 15, for which the district administration had granted permission on May 16. He said that Punia wrote a letter to the District Election Officer on May 17 stating that the pre-scheduled programme of the former Congress president

Will win Amethi, Rae Bareli by 'big margin': Cong leader Bhupesh Baghel

BJP's Smriti Irani has carved her identity by opposing Rahul Gandhi but cannot do so in Amethi this time and will face defeat, Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has said, exuding confidence that his party will win both the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh by "big margin" in the Lok Sabha polls. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who lost Amethi to Irani in the 2019 elections, has this time been fielded by the Congress from Rae Bareli and is contesting against BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh. Gandhi family aide Kishori Lal Sharma is taking on Irani in Amethi. Both the seats have had close ties with the Gandhi family since Indira Gandhi contested and then Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have all fought the polls from either of these two constituencies, Baghel said. "They have familial ties with every household here. The decision (of fielding Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli) was of the high command and our leaders have already spoken about it. We are fightin

Cong appoints Baghel, Gehlot as AICC observers for Rae Bareli, Amethi

The Congress on Monday appointed former chief ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot as AICC senior observers for Rae Bareli and Amethi Parliamentary constituencies, respectively. Ending weeks of suspense, the Congress on Friday announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the last two decades, and Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, will fight from Amethi. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to spearhead the campaign in Rae Bareli and Amethi, and camp in these parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh from Monday to ensure the party's victory in the two high-profile seats. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal to appoint Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot as AICC senior observers for Rae Bareli and Amethi Parliamentary constituencies respectively, a statement issued by the party said. Priyanka Gandhi has already taken command of the ..

Chhattisgarh liquor scam: SC ruling exposed Centre and ED, claims Baghel

Senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has claimed the Supreme Court's decision in connection with the alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh had exposed the Centre for using the Enforcement Directorate to target opposition parties. The apex court on Monday quashed the money laundering case against former IAS officer Anil Tuteja and his son Yash in the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam, saying there were no proceeds of the crime. In a post on X on Monday, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Baghel said the commitment of agencies like the ED should be towards the Constitution and not any political party. "Shameful political misuse of ED has been proved and the Modi government has been exposed. Today's decision of the Supreme Court has proved that at the behest of BJP, the ED has been conspiring to defame the opposition parties by making every case a case of money laundering," Baghel claimed in the post. The ED registered a case in the alleged liquor scam just before the 2023 assembly po

LS polls: Ex-CM Baghel files nomination from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh

Congress candidate and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday filed his nomination from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat in Chhattisgarh and expressed confidence that voters in the constituency will make him emerge victorious. The seat is currently held by Bharatiya Janata Party's Santosh Pandey, who defeated Congress' Bholaram Sahu by a margin of 1,11, 966 votes in 2019. The BJP has renominated Pandey from the seat. Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4. Polling in Rajnandgaon will be held on April 26. Baghel, 62, posted his pictures of filing the nomination papers at the Rajnandgaon collectorate on his X handle and said, "Considering the trust of every citizen of Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha as a witness, I have filed my nomination today. #will_win_rajnandgaon." Talking to reporters, the former CM expressed his gratitude to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and senior

PM Modi's 400 plus claim 'hollow', INDIA bloc will win majority: Baghel

Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's '400 paar' claim as "hollow", senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said the BJP's Ram temple pitch "would not make much of a difference" in the Lok Sabha polls and exuded confidence that the INDIA bloc will get a clear majority to form the next government. In an interview with PTI, the former Chhattisgarh chief minister also claimed that the Lok Sabha polls will be Narendra Modi versus the "whole of India". He expressed confidence that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get a majority to form the government at the Centre, while the Congress would be victorious in more than half of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh. Asked about whether the INDIA bloc was still strong enough to take on the BJP despite JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar switching over to the NDA and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee deciding to go solo, Baghel said, "Our natural alliance partners are with us, in fact our alliance has expanded with t

BJP targets Congress LS candidates in Chhattisgarh through cartoons

The ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh has come up with a set of cartoons on social media to target the opposition Congress' Lok Sabha poll candidates, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, over politics of appeasement and other issues. While the BJP said it has only portrayed some incidents which happened during the previous Congress regime through the cartoons which are not meant to hurt anyone, the grand old party accused it of releasing such illustrations out of frustration. The 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh will see polling in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India. The cartoon posters were released over the last one week. One such poster targeting former CM Baghel, who has been fielded by the Congress from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat, was posted with the comment "Rajnandgaon or Jihadgaon...selection is yours". The post shows a caricature of Baghel leading a queue, holding a green flag with "jihadi

Cong pins hopes on veterans like ex-CM Baghel for LS polls in Chhattisgarh

The Congress in Chhattisgarh has pinned its hopes on experienced leaders for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as its first list of six candidates included former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, two former state ministers and a sitting MP. The party released its first list of 39 candidates nationwide on Friday. In Chhattisgarh, where it lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last year's assembly polls, the Congress announced candidates for six out of 11 Lok Sabha seats. Four of them are from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and one belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. Besides Baghel (Rajnandgaon seat), the Congress has fielded Vikas Upadhyay (Raipur), Tamradhwaj Sahu (Mahasamund), Shivkumar Dahariya (Janjgir-Champa), Jyotsana Mahant (Korba), and Rajendra Sahu (Durg). Baghel, 62, the foremost leader of the party in the state, is a Kurmi which is an influential OBC community, and a sitting MLA. A six-term MLA, he had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha electio

24 out of 33 jails in Chhattisgarh overcrowded, govt figures reveal

Jails in Chhattisgarh are overcrowded as more than 18,000 inmates are lodged there against the existing capacity of 14,383, as per the figures shared by the state government. The state has five central, 20 district and eight sub jails, Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who also holds the home portfolio, stated in a written reply in the assembly on Thursday to a query from BJP MLA Sampat Agrawal. Twenty four of these jails, including all five central, 14 district and five sub jails, are overcrowded. In the remaining nine jails, inmates are less than their capacities, according to the figures. "As against the capacity of 14,383, there are 18,442 inmates lodged in the central, district and sub jails as on January 31 this year," the deputy CM said. The central jail in Raipur has 3,076 prisoners as against the capacity of 1,586, while the central jail in Durg has 2,031 inmates compared to the capacity of 2,006. Similarly, the central jail in Bilaspur has 2,870 prisoners though it has

Rahul should do justice to his party leaders first: Chhattisgarh CM Sai

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Thursday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' and said he should first do justice with his own party leaders. Talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekanand Airport in Raipur after returning from Delhi, the CM also said those accused in the alleged Chhattisgarh State Public Service Commission (CGPSC) scam will not be spared. Gandhi's yatra is scheduled to enter Chhattisgarh from Odisha on Thursday. It will be Gandhi's first visit to Chhattisgarh after the November 2023 assembly elections wherein his party was ousted from power in the state. The mass outreach programme of the Congress started from Manipur on January 14 and will culminate in Mumbai on March 20. To a query on Gandhi's yatra, CM Sai said, "You all have seen the impact of Bharat Jodo Yatra and now he has taken out Nyay yatra. After the state assembly polls (in Chhattisgarh), many (Congress) candidates quit the party. So he should first do just

Highlights: PM to launch BJP's campaign for LS from MP's Jhabua on Feb 11

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Cong holds meeting for shortlisting LS polls candidates in Chhattisgarh

The screening committee for shortlisting candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh met here on Sunday with AICC in-charge of the state Sachin Pilot asserting that winnability is the main criteria for the selection of nominees. Besides Pilot, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and state unit chief Deepak Baij, among others, attended the meeting. After the meeting, Pilot said names of candidates for all the 11 Lok Sabha seats were discussed and asserted that winnability would be the main criteria for selection. "The sentiment in all 11 seats is in favour of the Congress. We have made a list of all the candidates who are eligible to win and are discussing the same," the Congress general secretary said. "In Chhattisgarh, we could not win the assembly elections but our vote margin was only 1-1.5 per cent (less than the BJP). People have been watching the reports of the central government for the last 10 years. The government has failed on every front," he said.

Baghel appointed Cong senior observer in Bihar amid political turmoil

This comes amid speculation that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may rejoin the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)

Congress seeks extension of paddy procurement drive in Chhattisgarh

The opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh has demanded extension of the paddy procurement drive in the state till March 1, claiming that more than five lakh farmers are yet to sell their produce. The procurement drive, started on November 1 last year, is scheduled to end on January 31. The paddy procurement drive should be extended till March 1 so that the target of purchase can be achieved and farmers can sell their produce, state Congress chief and MP Deepak Baij said in a statement on Wednesday. More than five lakh farmers are yet to sell their paddy, he claimed. Before the newly elected BJP government in December last year ordered to procure 21 quintals paddy per acre, a large number of farmers had already sold 20 quintals paddy per acre as fixed by the previous Congress government and they are yet to sell the additional one quintal paddy per acre, he said. The previous Congress government had set a target of purchasing 135 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in the kharif marketing sea

Former-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel's father dies at a pvt hospital at 89

Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's father Nand Kumar Baghel died at a hospital here on Monday morning, a Congress leader said. He was 89. The former CM's father breathed his last at around 6 am at a private hospital in Raipur, where he was admitted for the last few days, state Congress communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla said without elaborating on the cause of the death. Bhupesh Baghel will reach Raipur from Delhi in the afternoon, he said. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief over the demise of Nand Kumar Baghel. In a condolence message to the bereaved family members, Sai prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace. In a post on X, Bhupesh Baghel said, "Babuji Shri Nand Kumar Baghel ji passed away this morning. His mortal remains have been kept at Patan Sadan (in Raipur). His last rites will be held on January 10 in our home village Kuruddih (Durg district), after my younger sister returns from abroad." He also shared a picture