TS Singh Deo – Modern Day ‘Maharaja’ (image-twitter/tssinghdeo)
Tribhuvaneshwar Saran Singh Deo, deputy chief minister of Chhattisgarh was born on October 31, 1952, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He is a senior Congress leader and former health minister of Chhattisgarh. T S Singhdeo, the current titular Maharaja of Surguja, is one of the prominent Congress leaders of the state. He has been elected thrice from his assembly constituency Ambikapur and also served as the opposition leader in the state assembly from 2013-2018. He was appointed as the deputy chief minister after 2018 election, after ending a long tussle with chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
T S Singhdeo belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Surguja, which ruled over large part of present-day Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. T S Singhdeo commonly referred as T S Baba, is the son Madneshwar Saran Singh Deo, the last ruler of Surguja before it merged with India in 1948. His mother is also from royal family of Rewa.
The unmarried Congress leader first became MLA in 2008. His political journey got a significant boost after being elected in 2013 and then served as the Opposition leader in the Assembly. His political career began during his early age of college. Being interested in politics, he chose to join Congress in the year 1977. He, though, started contesting election since 1980, he had to wait till 2008 to secure a seat in the state assembly.
In 2013, after being elected as the opposition leader, T S Singhdeo played an active role in bringing out the corruption and misrules of ruling BJP government. Though he played a keen role in the 2018 assembly elections which resulted in sweeping victory for Congress, Bhupesh Bhagel, who belonged to OBC community was chosen over him for the chief ministerial post.
Despite being from a royal lineage, T S Singhdeo maintained a persona that resonated with the people and hence he was widely referred as ‘Maharaj’. He is well-known for his vision and administration throughout his political career. He has also implemented several projects and schemes to his constituency.
The Ambikapur constituency has long been considered a bastion of the ruling Congress party. The grand old party has won the election 12 times which includes three consecutive wins by T S Singhdeo. BJP has fielded Rajesh Agarwal in Ambikapur constituency to retain the seat for the assembly election 2023.
