Bhupesh Baghel- The Game Changer (image-twitter/bhupeshbhagel)
Bhupesh Bagel is the current and third Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh since 2018, representing Indian National Congress. He took the oath as chief minister on December 17, 2018, after leading the opposition in the Chhattisgarh State Assembly for 15 years. Bhupesh, who represents the Patan constituency of the Durg District, started his political journey as a member of the Indian Youth Congress in 1985. He won his maiden election to the Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh from the Patan constituency in 1993 and was later elected five times from the same seat.
He then began climbing ladders, taking steps one after another. He was also appointed as the Minister of State for the Public Grievances Department and later promoted to Cabinet Minister for Transport in the Madhya Pradesh State Government led by Digvijay Singh. Soon after the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000, Baghel was the first to be appointed as the Minister of Revenue in the newly formed state.
One of his notable achievements came in the year of 2018. Under his presidency, Congress won the 2018 Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly by a thumbing majority; the party won 68 out of 90 seats. He played a pivotal role in bringing the Congress back to power in the state after one and a half decade. He also later served as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Chhattisgarh Assembly.
Soon after being appointed as the Chief Minister, Baghel fulfilled two major poll promises–farm loan waiver and raising the paddy support price by 50%–in a very short time. Soon after his oath ceremony, the order letter was released.
Baghel was conferred Mahatma Phule Samta Award for his activism and efforts to bring equality to society. Similarly, his work as a chief minister was recognized several times, and thus the state has received several awards and accolades under his leadership. The most recent one that he received was the ‘Cleanest State Award’ presented by the President of India, Ramnath Kovind.
Bhupesh Baghel was born on August 23, 1960, as the son of Nand Kumar Baghel and Bindeshwari Baghel. He pursued graduation and post-graduation from P. Ravishanker Shukla University, Raipur.
