Congress ticket for Chhattisgarh temple mahant who opposed anti-Gandhi statements at 2021 Dharam Sansad

Das was among the 53 names that made the Congress’s second list of candidates for the coming Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. Congress has now named a total of 83 candidates for elections to the 90-seat Assembly.

According to Congress sources, 10 MLAs were left out of the second list, while eight were left out of the first. Among the prominent leaders to lose their seat was senior tribal leader Premsai Singh Tekam, who was a minister in the Baghel government before he was removed to accommodate another tribal leader, Mohan Markam.

In the Surguja belt, Brihaspat Singh, an MLA from Balrampur, lost his ticket. Singh had accused Deputy Chief Minister T S Singh Deo in 2021 of being involved in an attack on him. The comments did not go down well with Singh Deo, who has publicly said he would not take responsibility for Singh’s seat without naming him. Singh Deo was part of the seven-member core committee of the Congress, which decided on the allocation of tickets.

Among the two Congress MLAs whose names cropped up in ED raids and subsequent prosecution complaints filed before a special PMLA court, one – Chandra Dev Rai – has lost his ticket, while other – Devendra Yadav – has retained it. Yadav, who is said to be close to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, retained his Bhilainagar seat, but Rai lost his Bilaigarh seat.