Raipur, Aug 17 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released the first list of its 21 candidates for the upcoming Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. In the list, the BJP has fielded Durg MP Vijay Baghel from Patan assembly seat which is represented by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Vijay Baghel had defeated Bhupesh Baghel in 2008 but lost to him in 2013.
Vijay Baghel, who refers to CM Baghel as his uncle, was denied a ticket in 2018 Assembly polls.
A BJP source said the party believes that fielding someone like Vijay Baghel is more suitable from the caste-based factor.
The BJP has fielded 10 ST candidates and one SC nominee out of the 29 and 10 reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, respectively.
Among the ST candidates is Ramvichar Netam, a former Rajya Sabha member and a former home minister of the state.
He has been fielded from Ramanujganj, a constituency he has represented in the past.
Meanwhile, a key name that has been dropped is Ram Sewak Paikra (61) -- another former home minister with three decades in electoral politics behind him.
Paikra, who lost the last elections, has been replaced by Shakuntala Singh Porthe.
Former bureaucrat OP Choudhary, who made an unsuccessful electoral debut in 2018 from Kharsia assembly seat, was denied ticket this time.
In the list, the BJP has also fielded many new faces including at least one switch each from the Congress and the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh Jogi. The party has also tried to send a message to the grassroots workers by fielding a sarpanch.
BJP state president Arun Sao said the party was serious in its intent about winning the elections.
"Bhupesh Baghel-led government has turned Chhattisgarh into a hub of crime and corruption. It cheated and looted all sections of the state and the development work is at a standstill. The people of Chhattisgarh have understood that the future of the state would be safe in the hands of the BJP," he told the mediapersons.
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