BETTING ON THE HINTERLAND

BHUPESH BAGHEL KICKS OFF HIS 2023 RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN BY UNDERTAKING A SWEEPING TOUR OF RURAL CHHATTISGARH AND ASSESSING GOVERNMENT WELFARE SCHEMES

- RAHUL NORONHA

It's May 11 and day seven of the ongoing Bhent-Mulaqat (a cordial meeting) Abhiyan of Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. As the helicopter carrying Baghel and his entourage of ministers and officials touches down at Mangrelgarh village in Ambikapur district, it triggers a flurry of activity. Villagers rush to welcome the high-profile guests who have come to solicit feedback from them on the government’s schemes. On the advice of Amarjeet Bhagat, the local MLA and minister for food and civil supplies, Baghel walks from the helipad to a temple dedicated to the Mangrelgarhi deity, after which he settles down under a makeshift shed with a thatched roof made of Saal leaves. “Has everyone’s farm loan been waived?” he asks villagers. “What do you with the handsome amount you earn by selling paddy to the government?” After hearing the mostly positive responses, Baghel switches to some light banter.

If you think the Congress is a laggard in early preparation for polls and rests on its laurels, Baghel is out to disprove that notion. By covering three villages in each of the 90 assembly segments across the state, the incumbent CM is keen on being seen as a hands-on man who susses out local issues in person. Also, most schemes launched by him in the past 42 months in office—be it the loan waiver, paddy procurement at MSP plus prices, schemes for rural landless labourers or the cow dung procurement—have focused on rural areas and the CM wants to judge their impact on the ground. Through the Bhent Mulaqat, Baghel wants to see if his political strategy of securing the hinterland to win 2023 is viable or not.