Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and BJP leader Raman Singh on Monday filed nomination papers in Rajnandgaon for the state assembly elections scheduled next month.
Apart from Singh, three other BJP candidates filed their nomination papers today. The other party candidates who filed nominations along with Singh are Geeta Ghasi Sahu (Khujji seat), Bharat Lal Verma (Dongargaon) and Vinod Khandekar (Dongargarh-Scheduled Caste reserved). Union Home Minister Amit Shah was present during the filing of nominations of the four candidates.
'BJP is going to win'
After filling nominations, the former CM said that BJP will win the upcoming elections in the state. "Today I filed my nomination as a BJP candidate. We are fortunate that Amit Shah came to give us blessings. The BJP is going to win in these elections... People are excited."
The BJP has fielded Singh, the former three-time chief minister, from his traditional Rajnandgaon seat. Singh, a six-term MLA, won from the Rajnandagon seat thrice in 2008, 2013 and 2018.
Meanwhile, the Congress has fielded its senior OBC leader and Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Chairman Girish Dewangan from Rajnandgaon.
Amit Shah addresses rally
Shah on Monday addressed a rally in Rajnandgaon city and alleged the Congress will continue doing the "appeasement" politics for a vote bank if it returns to power in Chhattisgarh after the assembly polls next month.
He said the Congress government has built a "corruption chain" up to Delhi like a food chain (of restaurants). "If BJP comes to power in Chhattisgarh, we will recover every penny from the corrupt and they will be hanged upside down," he added.
Shah attacked the Bhupesh Baghel government over communal violence in Biranpur village of Bemetara district in April and asked people whether they wanted Chhattisgarh to become a centre of communal riots again.
Chhattisgarh Assembly elections
The polling in Chhattisgarh will take place in two phases. The first phase of polling for 20 seats in Chhattisgarh will take place on November 7, 2023. The remaining 70 seats in the state will go to polls on November 17. The counting of votes will take place on December 3. The tenure of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 3 January 2024.
In the last polls, the Congress won 68 of the total 90 assembly seats, while the BJP finished a distant second at 15. The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), founded by former CM late Ajit Jogi, bagged five seats and its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won in two segments.
The BJP currently has 13 seats in the House, JCC(J) has 3 and the BSP has 2 seats. One seat is currently lying vacant. The Congress is aiming to win 75 seats in 2023 by riding high on the popularity of Baghel, who has a significant hold over OBC and rural voters, and the impact of the government's welfare schemes focused on farmers, tribals and the poor.
(With agencies input)
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