All eyes are set on key electoral contests in Chhattisgarh on Friday as Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel faces a challenge in Patan from his nephew and BJP’s MP from Durg Vijay Baghel in a triangular contest that promises to spring a surprise after Amit Jogi of Janta Chhattisgarh Congress (J) jumped into the fray.
The second phase of voting in the state on 70 seats is crucial for Baghel who has countered allegations of corruption while ensuring that 22 of 71 MLAs are dropped by the Congress to fight anti-incumbency across the state.
Out of the 70 seats on which voting is taking place in the second phase of election in the state, the Congress had won 51 seat in 2018 and the BJP had won 13. In this round fate of 958 candidates will be decided 1.63 crore voters. The first phase of voting was held on November 7. The result of the election will be declared on December 3. In Ambikapur constituency, state’s richest legislator with Rs 500-crore assets and Deputy Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo will look to retain his turf while his BJP rival Rajesh Agarwal tries to wrest the constituency.
In Lormi, state BJP president Arun Sao, an MP from Bilaspur, is looking to beat Congress candidate Thaneshwar Sahu who heads the state’s Backward Classes Commission.
Earlier, taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pitch for women-centric development, the BJP in Chhattisgarh tried to attract women voters by enrolling them for its proposed “Mahtari Vandan Yojana” that promises a monthly payment of Rs 1,000 to each married woman in the state if the saffron party comes to power after voting on Friday.
However, the Election Commission had also issued notices to some BJP leaders over the proposed election promise and drive to fill forms of a non-existent scheme. Ahead of the second phase polling on 70 seats in the state, former BJP Chief Minister Raman Singh had even shared the registration form for the proposed scheme on his social media handle. Over 86,500 women had enrolled for the scheme till the first phase of polling in the state on November 7.
A similar scheme for construction workers has been proposed with a monthly payment of Rs 1,500 to them. In response, Baghel also announced a scheme to offer Rs 15,000 annually to women once the Congress comes back to power. In some trouble for the BJP, a van loaded with calendars bearing photos of BJP leaders was seized in Janjgir district. The van was transporting the calendars to Raigarh, said police.
In one of his election rally in Mungeli during the campaign, Modi thanked voters of the state for backing the BJP in the first phase of voting on 7 November and said the women in the state have decided to throw the Congress out of power. Targeting Congress leader and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, without naming him, the Prime Minister said he is set to lose the election.