Political move? Baghel calls Shah home

RAIPUR:  Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s Chhattisgarh visit on Saturday, his second after the Congress came to power in the state in 2018, assumes significance for the BJP that is gearing-up for the Assembly polls due next year in the state. However, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel took the occasion to invite Shah to the CM house to experience the local festival called Teeja-Pola. 

“The chief minister has invited the Union home minister at his official residence to witness the rich cultural tradition of the state. It’s a coincidence that Amit Shahji is arriving the same day when a major cultural event has been planned in the CM House. Keeping his invitation above party politics, the CM has apprised him on how the state connects with its own culture values and local festivals,” Congress leader Sushil Anand Shukla said.

During the last three-and-a-half years, the Baghel-led Congress government has fostered local culture and tradition in an attempt to bring out the fervour of regional pride. He has adopted the annual practice of celebrating local festivals like Teeja, Hareli, Govardhan puja and Pola at his official residence and also declared holidays on these days.

According to political observer Dr Parivesh Mishra, amid the intended public display of bonhomie between Baghel and Shah, there seems to be a desire on the Chhattisgarh chief minister’s part to blunt the acrimony displayed by BJP leaders in their public utterances, as seen recently during the political rally organised by the saffron party’s youth wing in Raipur.

There is no official confirmation on whether Shah will attend any programme at the chief minister’s house.
Shah has three major programmes lined up in Raipur. Besides inaugurating a building of the National Investigation Agency, he will attend a seminar on ‘Modi@20: Dreams Meeting Delivery’, and chair a meeting of BJP leaders at the party’s state office. The last visit by Shah to the state was in April 2021 after a Maoist attack left 22 security personnel dead along the Sukma-Bijapur border.