Less than 24 hours before the Congress announced Bhupesh Baghel as Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister, the party leadership led by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had settled for Tamradhwaj Sahu, a soft-spoken OBC leader. A box of laddoos was on the table at Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on December 15, but none of the other three contenders, Baghel, T S Singhdeo and Charan Das Mahant, were ready to celebrate.
That Chhattisgarh got the Congress its biggest mandate of 68 seats out of 90, didn’t make the party’s job of naming the Chief Minister any easier. A dark horse in the race, Sahu’s name for the top job was almost sealed, but then the other three were not exactly pleased.