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Journalism of Courage
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said “parivarwad (nepotism)” was visible in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, citing the name of Vikrant Singh, 46, who is the nephew of former CM Raman Singh.
“All our (Congress’s) meetings are known to the public. But when did they (BJP) take meetings… nobody knows, not even the media. At least, we have a democratic process and those aspiring (to become MLA) can apply. Now, we want to see since Vikrant Singh got a ticket, will Raman Singh and (his son) Abhishek Singh get tickets? Is ‘parivarwad’ (nepotism) only for others or applies to them too?,” Baghel said.
Vikrant Singh’s mother is Raman Singh’s real sister. Reacting to the CM’s comments, Vikrant told The Indian Express, “I have been an elected representative for 19 years. I have won all the elections below the level of MLA. I have won four elections of nagar panchayat adhyaksha (chairman), nagar palika adhyaksha, jan pat adhyaksa, and zila panchayat upadhyaksha (vice-chairperson). BJP gives tickets to those who rise from the ground unlike Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, which is ‘parivarwad’.”
Vikrant will be the BJP candidate from Khairagarh, a seat won by Congress’s Yashoda Verma against Komal Janghel (BJP) in the bye-elections by a margin of 20,176 votes. In 2018, Janghel had lost to Devvrat Singh of JCCJ, whose death in November 2021 had necessitated the bypolls. Khairagarh is a city in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district which was formerly a part of Rajnandgaon district, the home district of Raman Singh.
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