Why trouble is brewing for Bhupesh Baghel's son
High drama erupted after the ED arrived for the arrest at Baghel's Raipur residence on July 18: the last day of the assembly's monsoon session and also Chaitanya's birthday. An angry Baghel tweeted how, on his own birthday in August 2023, the ED had raided his OSDs. 'The kind of birthday gifts Modi-Shah give cannot be given by anyone in any democracy. Thank you... I will remember them for life,' he wrote. A non-birthday present too had come in March, when the CBI raided his premises in the Mahadev app scam.Baghel was also heard lamenting how Pappu Bansal, an accused said to be close to him, could be seen breezing in and out of the ED office. That's not a bad reading of the ED's self-revealed strategy: to get those close to the 'big fish' to sing. Sources claim it was Bansal who explained the 'financial trail' leading to Chaitanya. Pappu Dhillon, a Chaitanya aide now in jail, may play a like role too. K.K. Shrivastava, a 'tantric/astrologer' close to Baghel, was arrested from Bhopal on unrelated complaints—also apparently meant to persuade him to read the future well and cooperate.
BIG TREES DON'T FALLBaghel has been vocal about tree-felling in an Adani coal project in a Raigarh forest. Chaitanya's arrest, he claims, is meant to deflect focus from that. The BJP denies any link. Anyway, Baghel's standing in his party won't stay unaffected. A section still prefers him: Priyanka Gandhi, for one, tweeted in his support. But a dichotomy is visible too: Baghel-baiter Charandas Mahant has been made leader of opposition.The former CM is a leader who even the BJP acknowledges as its most popular rival in the state. To retain that centrality, Baghel has a fight on his hands.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InMust Watch
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