Senior Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, including the Pradesh Congress Committee president Deepak Baij and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, joined a sit-in agitation on Tuesday (May 26, 2026), demanding the withdrawal of Arms Act charges against a local party functionary in Surajpur district.
Senior party leaders were mobilised after district Congress vice-president Narendra Jain was booked in a case under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, Arms Act, 1959, following a complaint lodged by BJP district president Murli Manohar Soni on May 23. The Opposition party alleges that the Arms Act was slapped to influence the upcoming Shivnandanpur Nagar Panchayat elections.
Shivnandanpur – an area with a population of around 4,500 in the northern tribal belt of Sarguja – transitioned from a gram Panchayat to a Nagar Panchayat in the year 2024, and the newly constituted council will go into its first elections on June 1. According to Congress spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla, the FIR was registered without a proper inquiry to dissuade Jain, a key figure in the campaign, from participating in the election process. Mr. Jain is yet to be arrested.
On Tuesday (May 26, 2026), Mr. Baij, as well as former Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo – who hails from the Sarguja region – announced that they will go on an indefinite strike until their three demands, including the cancellation of the FIR against Mr. Jain, are met. Mr. Baij has been camping outside the Vishrampur police station – where the FIR was filed – since Monday (May 25, 2026).
“We demand that the false FIR filed by the government against District Congress Committee General Secretary Narendra Jain is cancelled, the Arms Act charges must be dropped, and take immediate, strict action against the guilty police officer,” said Mr. Baij.
“BJP should listen carefully… Repression against Congress workers will not be tolerated. We will raze them to the ground. Remember… we are Congressmen!!” wrote ex CM Mr. Baghel on X.
Murali Manohar Soni, the BJP district president, on whose complaint the case was registered, claimed that there was an allegation that the Congress leader had tried to attack his party workers with weapons, against which he had registered the police complaint.
Published – May 27, 2026 04:47 am IST
