The Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh on Saturday escaped a no-confidence vote brought by the BJP on the last day of the monsoon session of the state assembly. The no-confidence motion was defeated by a voice vote at 1 am after a 13-hour debate in the state assembly. In the 90-member Assembly, the Congress has 71 members, while the BJP has 13 MLAs.In the debate that began on the afternoon of July 21, the BJP submitted a 109-point ‘chargesheet’ against the Baghel government, accusing it of corruption and failure to fulfil poll promises. During the noisy debate, opposition members targeted the Congress government over alleged scams, non-fulfilment of its poll promises and the “deteriorating” law and order situation.The Treasury bench rejected the allegations, claiming that the opposition had failed to bring any concrete issue and its charge sheet lacked facts. Replying to the debate, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the opposition’s charge sheet lacked facts and by bringing it, the BJP has given the government an opportunity to highlight its achievements in the Assembly. Meanwhile, BJP members started shouting slogans against the government and claimed that it had failed to respond to the opposition’s allegations.Baghel criticised the Centre, saying the Enforcement Directorate has been given enormous powers which is not in the interest of the country. “I strongly oppose the move to empower the ED to investigate matters related to GST. The ruling party rejected the allegations and said the BJP had failed to come up with concrete issues during the last session before assembly elections were held in the state later this year. The BJP had moved a no-confidence motion against the government on Wednesday and the discussion was scheduled for Friday.Initiating the debate, BJP MLA Brijmohan Agarwal hit out at the Congress and said the no-confidence motion has been brought because this government has become “deaf and dumb” and a “murderer of democracy”. He claimed that the atrocities of the Baghel government on the youth are more than the British. He also referred to the removal of Mohan Markam as chhattisgarh Congress chief and inducting him into the Baghel-led cabinet and removing minister Premsai Singh Tekam from the cabinet.
