The Election Commission has announced the dates of assembly elections in Chhattisgarh. Voting for a total of 90 assembly seats in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. Counting of votes will take place in the state along with other states on December 3. During the elections for the total 90 seats of Chhattisgarh Assembly, the contests on 13 seats will attract the most attention because prominent leaders of Congress and BJP are involved in them.
Eyes on these 13 assembly seats of Chhattisgarh
1. dumping
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel currently represents this rural constituency of Durg district. Its border is with the capital Raipur. Since 1993, Baghel has been elected five times from Patan seat. In 2008 he was defeated by his distant nephew, BJP’s Vijay Baghel. BJP has once again fielded Vijay Baghel, MP from Durg Lok Sabha seat, from this seat. Baghel belongs to the Kurmi caste, an influential Other Backward Class community in the state. This constituency has a large Kurmi population.
2. Rajnandgaon
This urban seat in Rajnandgaon district is currently held by BJP vice president and three-time Chief Minister Raman Singh. In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress had fielded Karuna Shukla, who had left the BJP and joined the Congress. She lost to Singh by 16,933 votes. Six-time MLA Raman Singh has won this seat three times since 2008. This time BJP has not presented any leader as its chief ministerial face.
3. Ambikapur
This tribal dominated seat of North Chhattisgarh is currently held by Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo. Singh Deo, a three-time MLA and scion of the former royal family, had won the seat for the first time in 2008. Protests are being held by local villagers, mainly tribals, against the coal mines allotted to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL) in the biodiversity-rich Hasdeo-Aranya region. Singhdev had come out in support of the protesters. Following this, the state urged the Center to cancel all coal block allocations in the Hasdeo region. The protests may affect Congress’s prospects on this seat.
4. Konta (Reserved for Scheduled Tribes)
This seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes is in Naxal-affected Sukma district of South Chhattisgarh. It is currently held by Industries and Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, one of the most influential tribal leaders in the state. Here mostly a triangular contest has been seen between Congress, BJP and Communist Party of India (CPI). Lakhma has won from Konta five consecutive times since 1998.
5. Kondagaon (Reserved for Scheduled Tribes)
This seat, which falls in Kondagaon district of South Chhattisgarh, is currently held by former Congress state president Mohan Markam. Markam had defeated BJP’s prominent tribal woman leader and former minister Lata Usendi from here in 2013 and 2018. Usendi was recently made the vice president of BJP. It is believed that Markam does not have good relations with Chief Minister Baghel, hence he was removed from the post of State Congress President in July.
6. Raipur City South
This urban constituency is held by influential BJP leader and former minister Brijmohan Agarwal. A seven-time MLA, Agarwal has been winning the seat continuously since 1990. Congress leader Kanhaiya Agarwal had given a tough competition to Agarwal in 2018. Kanhaiya had secured 60,093 votes against Brijmohan. The BJP leader got 77,589 votes in this election.
7. Durg Rural
This rural seat in Durg district has a large population of Sahu, a prominent community of Other Backward Class (OBC). The seat is currently held by minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, a prominent OBC leader. Sahu is believed to have played an important role in uniting Sahu voters in favor of Congress in 2018. After the party came to power in 2018, Sahu was the frontrunner for the post of Chief Minister. Sahu had earlier won from Durg Lok Sabha seat in 2014.
8. power
Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Charandas Mahanta is another prominent OBC leader of the Congress who represents the seat. Mahant, a four-time MLA, was elected from this seat for the first time in 2018. He is also a three-time Lok Sabha MP and was the Union Minister of State in the second term of the previous UPA government.
9. Kawardha
This seat in Kabirdham district is currently held by prominent Muslim leader Mohammad Akbar. Akbar, a four-time MLA, contested the seat for the first time in 2018 and won by a huge margin of 59,284 votes against former MLA Ashok Sahu of the BJP. Akbar is the Forest Minister in the Baghel government. Akbar may face some difficulty on this seat this time as there is a possibility of polarization after the communal violence in Kawardha city in 2021.
10. decoration
This constituency in Bemetara district is currently held by state agriculture minister and influential Brahmin leader Ravindra Choubey. He has been MLA for seven times. The constituency witnessed communal tension earlier this year following the killing of a person from the Sahu community and the subsequent killing of two people from another community in retaliation. Due to this, polarization may affect the election results in Saja as well as Kawardha.
11. Arang (seat reserved for Scheduled Caste)
This constituency of Raipur district is currently represented by Urban Administration Minister Shiv Kumar Dahria, a leader of the influential Satnami sect. The majority of Scheduled Caste population in the state belongs to this community. Dahria was first elected to the Chhattisgarh Assembly in 2003 from Palari and then in 2008 from Bilaigarh seat. This time he is facing risk because Guru Baldas Saheb of Satnami sect and his supporters have recently left Congress and joined BJP. Baldas has asked for a ticket from Arang for his son Khushwant Das Saheb.
12. Kharsia
This seat falls in Raigarh district of northern Chhattisgarh, which is dominated by the Aghariya community of Other Backward Classes. Higher Education Minister Umesh Patel currently represents this seat which is considered a Congress stronghold. Umesh Patel was first elected from this seat in 2013 after his father and prominent Congress leader Nandkumar Patel was killed in the Jheeram Valley Naxalite attack. Nandkumar Patel was elected five times from Kharsia.
13. Janjgir-Champa
In this area populated by Other Backward Classes, there is a tradition of changing MLAs in every election. Senior BJP leader Narayan Chandel represents this seat. He was elected from this seat thrice (1998, 2008 and 2018) by defeating Motilal Dewangan of Congress. Dewangan had defeated him in 2003 and 2013.
