Over the next two days, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be campaigning in Chhattisgarh, a state that is headed for elections. The sources state that on October 28, Congressman Rahul Gandhi will speak at rallies in Kanker, Rajnandgaon, and Bhanupratapur. On October 29, he will also speak at a rally in Kawardha. The Congress has fielded Girish Devangan from Rajnandgaon, Savitri Mandavi from the reserved constituency of Bhanupratappur (ST), and Shankar Dhruv from the Kanker (ST) seat, which is designated for Scheduled Tribes. Mohammed Akbar, the Congress candidate from Kawardha, is the only Muslim minister in the Bhupesh Baghel cabinet representing Chhattisgarh.
The minister was the subject of an all out attack by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during a campaign rally in Kawardha.
“When one Akbar arrives in a particular location, he brings along a hundred Akbars. Therefore, it is crucial to remove him swiftly or else the sanctity of Mata Kaushalya’s land will be compromised”, he said addressing the election rally.
In response the Congress had complained to the Election Commission alleging that the speech had communal undertones. Following this, the EC issued a show-cause notice to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Election Commission in the show-cause notice mentioned that certain parts of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s speech on October 18 have been found to be “prima facia violative”.
The first phase of polling for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 7.
After the first phase of polling on November 7, the remaining 70 seats in the state will go to polls on November 17. The counting of votes will be done on December 3.