BJP146;s first list out, 18 sitting MLAs dropped

Adopting the 8220;Gujarat formula8221; to beat the anti-incumbency factor in Chhattisgarh, the ruling BJP has dropped 18 sitting legislators, including a tribal minister, from its first list of 78 candidates and introduced 38 new faces for the next month8217;s Assembly polls. BJP8217;s central election committee, which considered the list of candidates prepared by the state leadership, released the first list of candidates in New Delhi late on Tuesday night. The party is fielding Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon seat and state BJP president Vishnu Deo Sai from Pathalgaon constituency.

The ruling party has also tried its best to strike a balance of caste equations. Though the number of seats reserved for the tribals are 29, the ruling party has fielded 32 tribals and also nominated 22 Other Backward Classes to contest the polls. While a number of ministers, against whom there were complaints of corruption, escaped party8217;s axe, Tribal Welfare Minister Ganesh Ram Bhagat was dropped from the list, along with 17 other legislators, as his Bagicha ST Assembly segment was eliminated in the recent de-limitation.

Sources said Bhagat was dropped as senior BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo was opposed to him due to his alleged differences with Judeo8217;s son Yudhvir Singh. Yudhvir has been nominated to contest the Chandrapur seat.

Parliamentary secretaries Trivikram Bhoi, Poonam Chandrakar, Ramsheela Sahu, Sanjeev Shah and Devalala Dugga could not find a place in the list of candidates while Vijaynath Singh, Rajsaran Bhagat, Trilochan Patel, Sanjay Deedi, Chandulal Sahu, Inder Chopra, Preetam Sahu, Lal Mahendra Singh Tekam, Vinod Khandekar, Rajinderpal Singh Bhatia, Aghan Singh Thakur and Lachuram Kashyap have been denied tickets.

Prominent among those re-nominated are Revenue Minister Brijmohan Agrawal Raipur-South, Health Minister Amar Agrawal Bilaspur, Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar Kurud and SC leader and MP Punnulal Mohile Mungeli.