Bastar king is set for election debut,may play decisive role

The move is crucial as Bastar zone is the most politically significant region of Chhattisgarh,mainly responsible for ensuring the BJP’s victory in the last two polls. The party won 9 out of 12 Bastar seats in 2003 polls,and clinched 11 in 2008. Except Jagdalpur,all seats are reserved for STs and a slight tilt in voting pattern after Dev’s arrival may be decisive for poll outcome.

In fact,Chief Minister Raman Singh recently began his Vikas Yatra,an election campaign to showcase his development efforts,from Dantewada by paying tributes to Goddess Danteshwari. The royal family,incidentally,is the officiating priest of Danteshwari temple. Kamal’s grandfather Praveen Chandra Bhanj Dev,who was killed by the police in 1960 for allegedly leading tribal agitation,was treated as god by locals.

Both state Congress president Nand K Patel and state BJP vice-president Sachhidanand Upasne have welcome Dev’s entry into politics. LSE-educated Dev,who is his late 20s,claimed that several parties,including BJP and Congress,have approached him but he is yet to decide. “I also have an option of joining CPI,even third front,” he said. “Bastar has been neglected for decades. My priorities are development of people. They have been suffering a lot,” he said.