New Delhi, November 6
In a calculated move to avoid groupism and internal feud, the BJP today decided not to field any of its three strong contenders for chief ministership in the coming Assembly poll in Chhattisgarh on December 1.
At a press conference organised here at the BJP headquarters to release the first list of 72 candidates for the 90-member Assembly, party’s Chhattisgarh unit President Raman Singh said neither he nor Union Ministers of State Dilip Singh Judev and Ramesh Bais would contest the coming elections, to enable them to concentrate fully in the election campaign in the entire state.
The decision assumes significance as all three were strong contenders for the chief ministership and their names were doing rounds well before the date for elections was announced.
In the list of 72, the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) has decided to renominate 21 sitting MLAs, including leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Nand Kumar Sai, who will contest from Tapkara-ST seat.
Out of the 72 candidates cleared today, five are women, nine belong to the Scheduled Castes and 28 the Scheduled Tribes, the BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
The selection process for Chhattisgarh was relatively smooth as compared to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, as a majority of the names were unanimously recommended by the state unit.
BJP’s CEC was helped by Mr Raman Singh and party leaders from the state Mr Sai, Mr Lakhi Ram Agarwal, Mrs Karuna Shukla and Mr Sudan Singh, in the final selection of the candidates.
The names for the remaining seats would be cleared by the CEC during its meetings on November 7 and 8, Mr Naqvi said.
Replying to a question whether the party would have a tie-up or understanding with the Nationalist Congress Party in Chhattisgarh, Mr Naqvi replied in the negative.
