Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Election 2023: In Chhattisgarh elections, BJP is focusing more on those nine seats where it has never been able to win after the formation of the state. These assembly seats of Chhattisgarh include Sitapur, Pali-Tanakhar, Marwahi, Mohla-Manpur, Konta, Kharsia, Korba, Kota and Jaijapur. Even after ruling the state for 15 years, BJP could never win these seats. Of these nine assembly seats, Marwahi, Sitapur, Pali-Tanakhar, Mohla-Manpur and Konta are reserved for Scheduled Tribes, while the other four are general.
Chhattisgarh was formed in 2000
Let us tell you that in the year 2000, Chhattisgarh state was formed by separating it from Madhya Pradesh. The first assembly elections were held in Chhattisgarh in 2003. At that time BJP had formed the government by defeating Ajit Jogi’s government. Later BJP also won the 2008 and 2013 assembly elections. In the 2018 elections, Congress ended the 15-year rule of Raman Singh by stopping BJP’s victory chariot. Congress had won 68 seats out of 90 member assembly in this election.
This time special focus on these nine seats
Now that the election bugle has sounded once again. In this mainly Congress and BJP parties are face to face. Voting for the assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. This time BJP is hopeful that it will definitely win these nine seats. The party has made new faces its candidates on six of these seats. BJP MP and convenor of the party’s election campaign committee, Santosh Pandey, said that the party has paid special attention to the selection of candidates on those nine seats on which it has never won.
Big challenge on Naxal affected Konta area
Santosh Pandey said that all the candidates are campaigning with full enthusiasm in their respective areas. He is getting huge support from the people. Among these nine seats, Naxal-affected Konta area of Bastar region is also there from where State Industries Minister Kawasi Lakhma is the MLA. Lakhma is once again contesting from Congress. Lakhma is an influential tribal leader of the region. He has won this seat five consecutive times since 1998. BJP has fielded newcomer Soyam Mukka from this seat. Mukka is a former activist of ‘Salwa Judum’ who had fought against the Maoists.
Bhupesh’s ministers are beating the drum on Sitapur
Konta seat has mostly seen a triangular contest between Congress, BJP and Communist Party of India (CPI). In the 2018 assembly elections, Lakhma got 31,933 votes, while BJP’s Dhaniram Barse and CPI’s Manish Kunjam got 25,224 and 24,549 votes respectively. Sitapur seat of Surguja division, northern region of the state, is also a seat from where BJP has never won. Amarjeet Bhagat, another influential tribal leader of Congress and minister in the Bhupesh Baghel government, has been winning from Sitapur seat since the formation of the state.
New face Ram Kumar Toppo in fray from Sitapur seat
BJP has fielded newcomer Ram Kumar Toppo (33) from Sitapur seat. Toppo has recently left CRPF job and joined BJP. He said- The people of Sitapur have asked me to contest the elections. I do not see Bhagat as a challenge. I never imagined becoming a leader. I received about 15 thousand letters from the people of Sitapur, in which they sought my help on various issues and asked me to contest the elections.
Congress is not a challenge- Toppo
Ram Kumar Toppo further said that one of these letters was written in blood by a woman who was a victim of sexual exploitation. I could not ignore them and resigned from the service recently when I was posted in Delhi. Appreciating the support he has received from the people of his constituency, he said that I do not see the Congress candidate as a challenge because it is not me but the people of Sitapur who are contesting against him (Bhagat).
Kharsia seat is also a stronghold of Congress
Similarly, another minister in the Congress government, Umesh Patel, is contesting from Kharsia seat for the third consecutive time. This seat has been a Congress stronghold since it came into existence in 1977. Umesh Patel’s father Nand Kumar Patel was the president of the state Congress. Patel was killed in the Jheeram Valley Naxalite attack in Bastar in 2013. He was elected from this seat five times. BJP has fielded new face Mahesh Sahu from Kharsia seat.
Marwahi and Kota seats are also Congress strongholds
Marwahi and Kota seats of Chhattisgarh have also been the stronghold of Congress, before this in 2018, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) had won both the seats. Ajit Jogi, the first Chief Minister of the Congress government after the formation of the state in 2000, won the by-election from Marwahi in 2001. He later won this seat twice on Congress ticket in the 2003 and 2008 assembly elections. In the year 2013, his son Amit Jogi contested from this seat and won.
History of Marwahi seat
In 2018, Ajit Jogi contested and won this seat on the ticket of his newly formed political party JCC (J). Later in 2020, Congress won this seat in the by-election held after the death of Ajit Jogi. Similarly, Ajit Jogi’s wife Renu Jogi had won the by-election from Kota seat in 2006 after the death of Congress MLA Rajendra Prasad Shukla. After this, Renu Jogi won this seat twice in 2008 and 2013 elections as a Congress candidate and in 2018 as a JCC (J) candidate.
BJP never won Korba, Pali-Tanakhar, Jaijaipur and Mohla-Manpur.
BJP has fielded new faces Prabal Pratap Singh Judev and Pranav Kumar Marpacchi from Kota and Marwahi seats. Former Yuva Morcha vice-president Judev is the son of veteran BJP leader late Dilip Singh Judev, while Marpacchi has served in the Indian Army. Congress has fielded its current MLA KK Dhruv from Marwahi and Chhattisgarh Tourism Board Chairman Atal Srivastava from Kota. Four other seats, Korba, Pali-Tanakhar, Jaijaipur and Mohla-Manpur, were never won by the BJP, and these seats came into existence after delimitation in 2008.
Interesting contest on Pali-Tanakhar seat
An interesting contest is being seen on the Pali-Tanakhar seat of the state. Here BJP has fielded Ram Dayal Uike, who left Congress and returned to BJP before the 2018 assembly elections. Uike was elected MLA from Marwahi seat in 1998 on BJP ticket. Later he joined Congress. When Ajit Jogi became the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Uike vacated his seat for Jogi. Uike, as a Congress candidate, won the Tanakhar (which became Pali Tanakhar after delimitation) seat in 2003 and then the Pali Tanakhar seat in 2008 and 2013.
Baghel’s minister’s challenge on Pali Tanakhar also
Uike returned to BJP in 2018 and contested from Pali-Tanakhar. But lost to Congress candidate. BJP has again fielded Uike from Pali Tanakhar, where the Congress has fielded woman Duleshwari Sidar after not giving ticket to its sitting MLA. Jaisingh Aggarwal, another minister of the Baghel government, has been invincible since 2008 on the Korba seat that came into existence after delimitation. BJP has fielded its former MLA Lakhanlal Dewangan against Congress’ Agarwal from Korba.
BSP captures Jaijaipur
Jaijaipur (Janjgir-Champa district) seat of Chhattisgarh is currently held by two-time Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Keshav Chandra. Congress has fielded its district Youth Congress chief Baleshwar Sahu and BJP has fielded its district unit chief Krishnakant Chandra. In the Naxal-affected Mohla-Manpur seat of the state, Congress has fielded its current MLA Indrashah Mandavi, while former MLA Sanjeev Shah is the BJP candidate.
Congress also never won these three seats
Like BJP, the ruling party Congress also never won three seats in the state, Raipur City South, Vaishali Nagar and Beltara. These three seats came into existence after the formation of the state (after delimitation in 2008). Raipur City South is an urban constituency held by influential BJP leader and former minister Brijmohan Agarwal. Aggarwal has been a seven-time MLA. Congress has fielded its former MLA and Mahant Ram Sundar Das of the famous Doodhadhari Math of Raipur against Agarwal.
What equations are being created on Vaishali Nagar and Beltara seats?
Vaishali Nagar seat is vacant after the death of BJP MLA Vidyartan Bhasin. BJP and Congress have fielded Rickesh Sen and Mukesh Chandrakar from this seat. In Beltara, BJP has not given ticket to sitting MLA Rajneesh Singh and has fielded newcomer Sushant Shukla. Whereas from the Congress side, Bilaspur rural unit president Vijay Kesarwani is the party’s candidate. State Congress communication wing president Sushil Anand Shukla claimed that his party will successfully break into some of the so-called strongholds of the BJP this time.
Congress set a target of winning 75 seats
Shukla said- Chhattisgarh has always been a stronghold of Congress. There was a BJP government here for some time, but in the last elections the people had completely rejected the BJP. This time the opposition party is struggling even on those seats where it had won last time. Congress had won 68 seats in the 2018 elections and formed the government. BJP had won 15 seats. Whereas JCC (J) got five seats and BSP got two seats. Congress currently has 71 MLAs in the state assembly. According to party leaders, Congress has set a target of winning 75 seats this time.
