AAP releases third list of 11 candidates for Chhattisgarh Assembly polls

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has released its third list of 11 candidates for next month's assembly elections in Chhattisgarh.

With this, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now released the names of 33 candidates in the Congress-ruled state, where polls for the 90-member assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.

“Announcement! Third list of candidates for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections is here. All the best to all candidates. Is baar chalegi Jhadu (this time broom will sweep). #ChhattisgarhMangeKejriwal,” said the party along with the list on X on Thursday night.

Of these 11 seats, one each is reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) nominees.

The AAP had tried its luck for the first time in the 2018 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and fielded candidates in 85 of the total 90 seats but failed to open its account in the state.

The candidates in the list are Dr Akash Jashwal (Baikunthpur seat), Chandrakant Diksena (Katghora), Manbhajan Tandon (Lormi), Deepak Patre (Mungeli-SC), Durgalal Kewat (Jaijaipur), Lekh Ram Sahu (Kasdol), Jashwant Sinha (Gunderdehi), Sanjeet Vishwakarma (Durg rural), Chameli Kurre (Pandariya), Jagdmohan Baghel (Bastar-ST) and Narendra Bhawani (Jagdalpur).

On Monday, Kejriwal said AAP, which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, is ready to contest the upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan with full strength and the names of candidates will be declared soon.

Chhattisgarh, which has always seen a bipolar politics dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, saw the entry of a third front in the 2018 polls when former chief minister late Ajit Jogi's Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested as a part of an alliance and bagged seven seats.

The Congress registered a landslide victory in the last assembly polls winning 68 seats, and comfortably formed the government. The BJP was reduced to 15 seats, while the JCC (J) and the BSP bagged 5 and 2 seats, respectively. The current strength of the Congress in the House is 71.

This time the AAP is eyeing to make inroads in the state as the JCC (J) has been virtually pushed to the margins after the death of Ajit Jogi in 2020. AAP had run a high-decibel campaign ahead of Gujarat polls last year but could win only five seats in the 182-member assembly there.

The opposition BJP has so far announced candidates for 85 seats, while the ruling Congress is yet to announce its nominees.

Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram will go to the assembly polls between November 7 and 30, and the counting of votes will be on December 3, according to the Election Commission.