The Congress party has drawn up a comprehensive campaign strategy to provide extra focus on eight of the 11 lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh, party sources here informed.
Earlier, the Raipur seat was considered weak by the party but after the naming of former minister Satyanarayan Sharma as the candidature a close contest is now expected with BJP’s six-time MP and candidate Ramesh Bais.Though the party veterans have been claiming close contest in all the 11 seats, it has centred its attention on mainly Bastar, Kanker, Korba, Mahasamund, Bilaspur, Sarguja, Durg and Raipur seats.
The party would put most of its energy in campaigning for the eight seats while also ensuring that the rest of the three lok Sabha seats Janjgir-Champa, Rajnandgaon and Raigarh also get their due attention, sources stated.
Interestingly, the demand for change of candidates in Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh is still continuing among a section of the party’s workers.In Raigarh, the situation has gone worse with the change of candidate. Senior leaders have no time to stop internal squabbles here even though the party’s State president Bhupesh Baghel and leader of the Opposition TS Singh Deo had made their presence felt during the party workers convention in the constituency to strengthen the party’s position in the seat.
Now public meetings of Congress party’s star campaigners Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are being scheduled in such places from where the party has expectation of winning the seats.Rahul Gandhi addressed a public meeting in Kondagaon on March 31 and another would be held in Balod on April 9. Besides, preparations are underway for the public meeting of Sonia Gandhi in Ambikapur on April 18.
Because of the dispute over ticket distribution for Raipur lok Sabha, the party’s poll strategists had been despaired.Some of the leaders of the party said that the party high command has left no stone unturned in providing resources to the State unit here. For the campaigning of the State leaders two helicopters have been made available, besides campaign material.