Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday said state Governor Anusuiya Uikey was also in the race for presidential candidate of the BJP-led NDA, but missed out on nomination for the top constitutional post because of her Congress background.

Talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekananda Airport Raipur after returning from Delhi late in the ?evening, Baghel also accused the BJP of trying to topple the Shiv Sena-led MVA government in Maharashtra.?The Congress is a part of the MVA government.

The BJP-led NDA on Tuesday named Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha, as its candidate for the July 18 presidential election.
Asked about the NDA fielding ?a tribal leader for the post of president with an eye on adivasi votes, Baghel said, “Anusuiya Uikey ji (who hails from a tribal community) was also in the line but she didn't get a chance because she has a Congress background. Earlier she was a Congress MLA due to which she did not get the opportunity (to become presidential candidate).”

Asked that some Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have claimed they were forcefully shifted to Surat, Baghel said, “The way policemen were pushing them (referring to Shiv Sena MLAs being taken to Assam from ?Surat airport), it is visible that it is a horse-trading attempt.

"They are being threatened. When Narayan Rane, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Mukul Roy were in opposition, cases were filed against them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the Income Tax department. ?But when they switched parties everything became alright. Everyone understands that when they go there (to BJP camp), everything becomes clean.”

The Congress CM said the BJP is out to destabilize governments in states where its political opponents are in power.?"The BJP is not able to tolerate governments of opposition parties in states and engages in destabilizing them. ?Earlier they did it in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Even here (in Chhattisgarh) they are trying it. Sometimes they use ED, sometimes IT," he claimed.

“Earlier during the Raman Singh-led BJP government in the state, phones of opposition leaders, bureaucrats, journalists and even of the ruling party leaders were tapped. It is their nature,” Baghel added. ?

(With PTI inputs)