The upcoming Chhattisgarh assembly elections will see some high-profile contests between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP in several key seats that can swing either way. These seats are currently held by prominent leaders of both parties, including the chief minister, the deputy chief minister, the speaker and former chief ministers.
Patan: The most watched seat will be Patan, where Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will face his distant nephew and BJP MP Vijay Baghel. Bhupesh Baghel has won this seat five times since 1993 but lost to Vijay Baghel in 2008. The Baghels belong to the Kurmi caste, a dominant OBC group in this rural constituency.
Rajnandgaon: Another seat of interest is Rajnandgaon, where former chief minister and BJP vice president Raman Singh will seek his fourth consecutive term. He will face a challenge from the Congress, which had fielded Karuna Shukla, a former BJP leader and niece of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 2018. Singh won by a margin of 16,933 votes then, but this time he may not have the advantage of being the BJP’s CM face.
Ambikapur: Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo who belongs to an erstwhile royal family and a three-time MLA, will try to retain his seat amid protests by tribals against coal mining in the Hasdeo-Arand region. TS Singh Deo has supported the protestors and the state assembly has passed a resolution to cancel all coal blocks in the area. However, this may not be enough to appease the voters who are unhappy with the environmental damage caused by the mining.
Konta (ST): A Naxal-affected seat in south Chhattisgarh, will witness a triangular contest between Industry and Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma of the Congress, BJP and CPI. Kawasi Lakhma is one of the most influential tribal leaders in the state and has won this seat five times in a row since 1998.
Raipur City South: An urban seat held by BJP’s Brijmohan Agrawal, a seven-term MLA and former minister, will also see a close fight. Agrawal has been unbeaten in this seat since 1990 but faced a tough challenge from Congress’s Kanhaiya Agrawal in 2018. Kanhaiya Agrawal secured 60,093 votes against Brijmohan’s 77,589 votes.
Durg Rural: A seat with a large population of Sahus, an OBC community, is currently held by Congress minister Tamradhwaj Sahu. Sahu is a prominent OBC leader who played a crucial role in mobilising Sahu voters for the Congress in 2018. He was also among the front runners for the CM post after the party came to power. He had won from Durg Lok Sabha seat in 2014 before contesting from this seat in 2018.
Sakti: The rural assembly seat is represented by Speaker Charandas Mahant, another prominent OBC leader of the Congress. Mahant is a four-time MLA who won this seat for the first time in 2018. He is also a three-term Lok Sabha MP and was a Union minister of state in the second UPA government.
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Kawardha: Kawardha is categorised as a rural seat and is currently held by Congress minister Mohammad Akbar, a prominent Muslim leader. Akbar is a four-time MLA who contested from this seat for the first time in 2018 and won by a big margin of 59,284 votes against BJP’s Ashok Sahu. However, Akbar may face some difficulty this time as Kawardha town witnessed communal violence in 2021 which may result in polarisation of voters along religious lines.
Arang (SC): A semi-urban seat in Raipur district, is currently held by Urban Administration Minister Shiv Kumar Dahariya, an influential Satnami sect leader. The majority of the Scheduled Caste population in the state follows this sect. Dahariya was first elected to the Chhattisgarh assembly in 2003 from Palari and then from Bilaigarh seat in 2008.
This time he faces threat as Satnami sect guru Baldas Saheb and his supporters recently joined the BJP, quitting Congress. Baldas has sought a ticket for his son Khushwant Das Saheb from Arang.
Janjgir-Champa: A constituency, largely inhabited by the OBC population, that has a tradition of changing MLA in every election. Senior BJP leader Narayan Chandel, a Kurmi, represents this seat. He had been elected thrice from the seat, defeating Congress’s Motilal Dewangan in the last election while Dewangan had defeated him in 2003 and 2013.
Chhattisgarh assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. Congress currently holds 71 out of 90 seats in the state legislative assembly, while the BJP has 15 MLAs. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) hold two and one seats, respectively.
(With inputs from PTI)
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