After the Phase-I poll on Friday the focus has now shifted to the remaining 51 constituencies of the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, which will go to polls on November 20.
For the second innings, the BJP will once again be fielding its senior leaders L.K Advani, Rajnath Singh over the next three days. On Friday senior party leaders Narendra Modi and Venkiah Naidu besides star campaigners Shatrughan Sinha and Navjot Sidhu were in the state to woo 88,19,264 electorate in eight remaining districts.
In comparison, in the Congress the responsibility for Chhattisgarh appears to have more or less fallen on party general secretary Rahul Gandhi. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi was not able to keep her date with the state despite fixing appointment twice, Rahul will be visiting Chhattisgarh for the third time.
In Phase I he visited Jagdalpur, Bhilai, Mahasamund and Dhamtari, his schedule for Phase-II includes visits to Ambikapur, Raipur and Korba, indicating that the Congress has given the complete responsibility of Chhattisgarh to Rahul. The Congress scion may not be a heavy weight as far as politics is concerned, but he does manage to attract crowds wherever he goes.
Otherwise for the Congress the responsibility of spreading the party’s message in the state is largely with former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi. Wheel-chair bound Jogi has emerged as the party’s star campaigner in these elections despite his physical disability. He managed to visit 90 per cent constituencies in the Phase-I and is currently stationed in Bilaspur.
In the Phase-II, the fate of 687 candidates will be decided amidst allegations of corruption against the Raman Singh government by the Congress and claims of all-round development by the party in power. The BJP appears to be riding high courtesy its populist schemes like Rs-3 per Kg rice for BPL families and pro-farmer policies.
BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu, who addressed a press conference in the state capital on Friday, said the party was confident of coming back to power in the state.
Among those whose fate will be decided in this phase include Jogi, who is contesting from Marwahi for the third time, and his wife Renu Jogi in adjoining Kota in Bilaspur district. While Jogi is expected to sail through with very comfortable margins, his wife is likely to experience a tough fight from BJP candidate Mool Chand Khandelwal.
BJP’s senor minister Brijmohan Aggarwal is contesting from South Raipur. Others in the contest include two members of Parliament from Raigarh and Bilaspur.
