Congress uneasy as Chhattisgarh Dy CM praises Centre

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, September 15

Days after Congress MP Shashi Tharoor lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for successful conduct of G20 and delivery of a consensus New Delhi Declaration when no one was expecting one, another Congress veteran has heaped praises on the BJP-ruled Centre causing disquiet in the grand old party which has been engaged in strengthening anti-BJP alliances at the national level.

At the event in Raigarh on Thursday where PM Modi dedicated development projects worth over Rs 6,300 crore for the state, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister TS Singhdeo said he had never experienced any discrimination against the state at the hands of the Centre.

“I will not hesitate to say this. In my experience, I have never experienced any discrimination. Whenever we have sought help from the Centre and asserted our right for any work, the Centre has never shown miserliness. I am sure we will continue to work across sectors in future also in this same spirit of cooperative federalism,” said Congress veteran Singhdeo who was recently appointed Deputy CM of the state and who has long been known to be at loggerheads with CM Bhupesh Baghel.

Singhdeo who addressed Modi as “respected Prime Minister” months ahead of Chhattisgarh elections where the BJP is directly pitted against the ruling Congress, went to the extent of saying that it was his pleasure to welcome the PM in Chhattisgarh.

“You have always been giving us a lot of things.Your presence here today lends pace to efforts at building the railway corridor for speedy development…,” said Singhdeo.

What he said

TS Singhdeo has said he has never experienced any discrimination against the state at the hands of the Centre