Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh seeking mandate of the people for the second time in a row from the seat has made Rajnandgaon a VIP Assembly constituency attracting attention of poll pundits as well as commoners, even as the Congress, by fielding Alka Mudliyar, has tried its best to convert the contest in a battle royal.
Though a total of 14 candidates are contesting the Rajnandgaon Assembly constituency of the insurgency prone Rajnandgaon district, the main contest is between Dr Raman Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Alka Mudliyar of Congress.
Just a day before the formal campaigning ended on Saturday evening, Dr Raman Singh started leading his campaign and thereafter door-to-door contact from the front with his most trusted lieutenant leelaram Bhojwani in tow as poll in-charge. Through extensive public meetings and road shows he created environment in his favour in all the 45 wards of the city and in its suburbs.
Besides the Chief Minister, his son Abhishek, wife Veena Singh, sister and other relatives, too, participated in door-to-door contact throughout Sunday. Member of parliament from Rajnandgaon lok Sabha seat Madhusudan yadav, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Mahila Morcha and other frontal organisations members were also active in his support seeking vote for development of the city.
In terms of publicity also, BJP looked much ahead of other candidates, be it the banner, poster, slogans, vehicles or even cultural troupes presenting street shows, there seemed hardly any match between the two sides.
The mood of public seemed more or less set to give another chance to Dr Singh even as quantum of lead was somehow not clear. Pan shop operator at Rajnandgaon Pappu said: “Victory of Dr Raman from Rajnandgaon seat is a foregone conclusion because people of the city know that the development projects left unfinished could be completed only if the chief minister wins. Projects like the Medical College, foundation of which was laid only recently, will be left in the lurch if anyone else replaces him.’’
On the other hand, on Motipur Road, Santosh Sahu, a resident of Nawagarh, cautioned, “Though Dr Raman will sail through the poll comfortably, taking Alka Mudliyar lightly would not be wise. This time Rajnandgaon is set to witness a battle royal.’’ Resident of lalbag Coloney and a teacher by profession Rupesh Thakur said: “From the Rajnandgaon Assembly seat victory of BJP candidate was more or less certain, but if the Congress overcomes factionalism and internal wrangling, Alka Mudliyar will definitely prove a formidable opponent.”
On this prestigious seat, the Congress, too, made no compromise in putting up a stiff fight against the BJP by fielding the widow of Uday Mudliyar who was killed in May 25 Jeeram valley Maoist attack, but the lack of resources and workers was clearly evident even if Alka Mudliyar herself led her campaign from the front visiting almost every household of the city and tried her best to raise the heat against her opponent highlighting corruption in the administration and the pause in development of the city and pending construction projects despite the fact that the chief minister represented the constituency in the Assembly as well as in the Government.
In the end, as per our conclusion, as was also some talk in the air, even if Alka Mudliyar fails to catch the bus for the State Assembly, the margin of Dr Raman’s lead over opponent, which was 32,389 in the 2008 polls, is poised to see a down turn considerably.