Chhattisgarh govt not providing security to Baghel: Congress

The opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh today alleged the BJP government was not providing adequate security to the party's state unit chief, Bhupesh Baghel.

No police protection was provided to Baghel during his recent visits to Mahasamund, Bemetara, Balodabazar and Mungeli districts, Congress spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said in a statement here.

Trivedi said he had written a letter to the Director General of Police, pointing out this lapse.

The Congress leader pointed out that Assembly elections are due in Chhattisgarh this year.

In 2013, prior to the last polls, security was provided to the Congress' 'Parivartan Yatra' when it passed through Bijapur and Dantewada, but the same was not done in Sukma district, where it faced a major Naxal attack in Jiram Valley, Trivedi recalled.

Even now, Baghel was being provided protection in some areas and denied in others, he said, adding the Congress believes there is a threat to Baghel's life.

Twenty-nine people, including then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel and former Union minister V C Shukla, were killed in the Jiram Valley attack on May 25, 2013.