Caste is not the issue

The PCC chief is pitted against another OBC leader and his traditional rival Chandrashekhar Sahu, a former BJP MP. In the last Assembly polls, Dhanendra Sahu had won the seat by a wafer-thin margin, defeating Chandrashekhar Sahu by just 227 votes. Both of them had earlier contested against each other in the 1990 and 1993 polls — held in undivided Madhya Pradesh — and won one election each.

While his supporters talk about his chances of becoming chief minister, the Congress leader himself plays it safe. “I am a humble soldier of the Congress. My effort has always been to honestly discharge the duties entrusted to me”, he says.

BJP candidate Chandrashekhar Sahu is no lightweight either. He represented this constituency in 1985 and 1995. He was also an MP from Mahasamund constituency in which Abhanpur is a segment. After his defeat in the last polls, the BJP appointed him member of the State Public Service Commission and later chairman of the State Seed Corporation.

The BJP candidate, popularly known as “Champu” in the constituency, sees an undercurrent in favour of the BJP because of its welfare policies such as Rs 3 per kg rice for the poor and the supply of free bicycles to all schoolgoing girls.

For the Congress, the election for this seat bears a lot of significance. Dhanendra Sahu’s nomination as PCC chief, just a few months before the polls, had set the ball rolling for “social engineering” both within the ruling BJP as well as in the Congress. The OBCs constitute 51 per cent of the state’s population of 21 million. The ruling BJP fielded 28 OBC candidates while 22 OBC candidates figure in the Congress list. However, caste is not being discussed anywhere in these polls.

As in the past, local issues dominate. As both the Sahus claim credit for the development works in the constituency, there are indications that the victory margin would be as thin as it was in the last election.

“Despite being close to the state capital, Abhanpur still is like any other rural constituency as it did not get any special attention. Whoever wins, we expect a fair deal from them towards the region”, says Nilesh Sahu, a farmer from Abhanpur town.

Irrigation facilities are by and large better in this constituency where paddy cultivation is the main source of livelihood for the majority. While Abhanpur town is on the national highway connecting Raipur and Bastar, many internal roads linking villages are in bad shape.

Politics is bi-polar here and the contest is between the Congress and BJP. Though the BSP has fielded Shilendra Singh, and JD(U) and SP nominees are also in the fray, it is unlikely that they will be able to make their presence felt.