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Journalism of Courage
The Congress on Sunday declared its first list of 30 candidates in Chhattisgarh, including 19 of the 20 constituencies at stake in the first phase on November 7. While eight sitting MLAs have been dropped, top leaders and ministers have been retained.
With this, the party underlines the advantage it seemingly has over a BJP still struggling to find its feet and sends the Opposition party the message that it is the favourite to retain power come December 3, when the results will be announced. Of the 90 Assembly seats, the Congress won 68 in 2018 and the BJP won 15. After several bypolls, the Congress’s tally is 71 at present and the BJP’s is down to 13.
Of the 14 heavyweights whose candidature have been declared are Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel (Patan), Deputy CM T S Singh Deo (Ambikapur), Speaker Charan Das Mahant (Sakti), and Cabinet ministers Amarjeet Bhagat (Sitapur-ST), Umesh Patel (Kharsia), Jai Singh Agrawal (Korba), Shivkumar Dahariya (Arang-SC), Anila Bhendia (Dondi Lohara-ST), Tamradhwaj Sahu (Durg Rural), Ravindra Choubey (Saja), Guru Rudra Kumar (Nawagarh-SC), Mohammad Akbar (Kawardha), Mohan Markam (Kondagaon) and Kawasi Lakhma (Konta).
Chhattisgarh Congress president Deepak Baij, the Lok Sabha MP from Bastar, has been fielded from Chitrakot that he won in 2018 but vacated the following year to contest the parliamentary elections.
The eight MLAs dropped
There are some big names among the eight MLAs denied tickets. In Kanker, former IAS officer Shishupal Shori has been replaced by former MLA Shankar Dhruv while in Dantewada the party has replaced Devati Karma, the wife of Mahendra Karma who had started the Salwa Judum anti-Naxal militia, with their son Chavindra. Maoists killed Mahendra and several senior Congress leaders in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack in Sukma. Devati won the 2013 election but lost to the BJP’s Bhima Mandavi five years later. But after Mandavi was killed in a 2019 Naxal attack, Devati won the ensuing bypoll against Mandavi’s wife.
Pandariya MLA Mamta Chandrakar has been replaced by Neelkanth Chandrawanshi, a grassroots leader, while in Dongargarh, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes, Harshita Baghel is the new candidate in place of Bhuneshwar Baghel. In Khujji, MLA Chhanni Chandu Sahu has made way for Bhola Ram Sahu who unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In Antagarh, MLA Anoop Nag was denied a ticket and has been replaced by first-time candidate Roop Singh Potai.
The other MLAs who have been dropped are Rajman Benjam (Chitrakot) and Gurudayal Banjare, who has made way for state minister Guru Rudra Kumar in Navagarh.
On the reason why the MLAs were dropped from the list, Congress media cell chief Sushil Anand Shukla said, “The decision was taken by the committee based on multiple factors like popularity, winnability, and most importantly, surveys by a private agency and former and present Congress party workers and leaders.”
However, Congress sources said at least one MLA, Chhanni Sahu, lost her seat because she was a supporter of the CM’s rival T S Singh Deo, and was not in the good books of Baghel. She was also in the news in 2022 after her husband was arrested in an alleged SC/ST atrocities Act case, which her supporters say was the result of her fight against the sand mafia.
Among the legislators retained are Sant Ram Netam (Keshkal), Indrashah Mandavi (Mohla-Manpur), Daleshwar Sahu (Dongargaon), Savitri Mandavi (Bhanupratappur), Chandan Kashyap ( Narayanpur), Lakheshwar Baghel (Bastar), and Vikram Mandavi (Bijapur). In Rajnandgaon, Karuna Shukla lost to former CM Raman Singh of the BJP last time. Following her death in 2021, Girish Dewangan has been named as her replacement. Dewangan’s name had cropped up in an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation in the coal levy case earlier this year though he was not named in the prosecution complaint. He is the chairman of the Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation and a general secretary in the state Congress. He is known to be close to Baghel and his family members have a long-standing affiliation with the Congress.
Of the 30 seats for which the Congress declared candidates, 14 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and three for Scheduled Castes. In nine of the remaining 13 seats, the Congress has fielded OBC candidates, while four tickets have been given to those in the general category – ministers Baghel, Singh Deo, Agrawal and Choubey. Four candidates are women, including two MLAs and a minister.
“Of the 20 seats in the first phase, only Jagdalpur has not been declared. It will happen soon. I can guarantee we will win in at least 18 seats comfortably,” said state Congress spokesperson Vikas Vijay Bajaj.
