Sitting BJP Member of Parliament (MP) from Rajnandgaon Abhishek Singh may be denied ticket for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections as the party is contemplating to field his father and formerChief Minister Raman Singh from the seat.
The BJP central leadership is of the firm view that the Congress is on the rise in the State and in the wake of rising political clout of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the party needs to fight 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the State with its full might to avoid a whitewash.
It’s widely speculated in the State’s political corridors, after Congress swept Assembly polls in November last, that the BJP would struggle to get even 2-3 seats out of the total 11 in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP won 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 parliamentary elections.
“There is no denial that Congress is on the rise in Chhattisgarh, it’s very tough job for the BJP cadres to repeat the 2014 Lok Sabha performance. In view of this, there is a talk in party to field Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon rather than going with his arrogant son,’’ a top BJP leader told The Pioneer.
Abhishek won the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat in 2014 with a comfortable margin but the BJP central leadership this time wants to field the former chief minister from the seat so that he could lead the BJP campaign front the front and boost the morale of party cadres, who are feeling down and out after the party was trounced in the elections to the 90-member State Assembly in December last year.