Chhattisgarh polls: BJP fields ex-CM Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon, state chief Sao from Lormi

Three MPs, including Union minister Renuka Singh and Gomati Sai, figured in the list as the party continued with fielding parliamentarians in the assembly polls, underlining its all-out bid to win power in the current round of five-state elections.

The BJP on Monday announced the names of 64 candidates from Chhattisgarh in its second list from the state, nominating former chief minister Raman Singh to contest again from the Rajnandgaon seat. As Congress attempts to return to power in Chhattisgarh under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the BJP had fielded a sitting MP from Durg Vijay Baghel against the CM but has not been able to develop second-rung leadership after Singh.

The party has also fielded three sitting MPs, including Union Minister Renuka Singh and Gomati Sai as well as state unit president Arun Sao. All of the party’s 13 MLAs, barring one legislator, have been fielded this term. 

Keeping in line with not naming any chief ministerial candidate in the state elections, like it has done in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the party has not yet named Raman Singh as the CM face, but by nominating both Singh and Vijay Baghel, the BJP is trying to strike a balance between its core upper caste votes and the OBC community. The BJP is pitting him against Baghel, who has positioned himself as a popular OBC leader.

To ensure another term for Baghel in office, the Congress will base its campaign on the plank of social justice, bring forth the promise of caste census and population-based reservation, peppering it with its guarantees. To counter that, the BJP is likely to take on Baghel over allegations of corruption – his name has cropped up in a Rs 2,161-crore liquor scam, coal scam, and lately, in an alleged cow dung scam. 

The party is also hedging its bets on new faces – 43 of the candidates will be fighting the elections for the first time, and 34 of the MLAs will be below 50 years old. The BJP has also alleged that the Baghel dispensation has close ties with Naxals, and that the Congress has been utilising the help of Naxals to kill BJP workers.