Campaigning in Mahasamund, Kanker and Rajnandgaon lok Sabha constituencies ended on Tuesday evening for the second phase of polls in Chhattisgarh on April 17.
The candidates have now commenced their door-to-door campaigns to meet voters in their respective constituencies ahead of the poll date.
Notably, the Mahasamund and Kanker seat would witness a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress whereas in Rajnandgaon, the contest appears one-sided with the BJP in a dominant position against the Congress party.
The Mahasamund seat is under sharp focus at the moment as Congress candidate and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi is contesting from the seat against BJP candidate and sitting MP Chandulal Sahu. Besides them, AAP candidate and singer laxman Masturiya and 26 others are trying their luck from the seat.
In a bid to provide a challenge to the Congress party in the Mahasamund seat, the BJP held a public meeting in Dhamtari addressed by its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi .
This apart, Chief Minister Raman Singh had addressed more than half dozen meetings in the Mahasamund lok Sabha constituency. In Mahasamund, State Panchayat and Rural Development minister Ajay Chandrakar was doing election management for the BJP whereas, the Congress candidate Ajit Jogi himself is doing the election management himself in the constituency . The entire Jogi family has pitched their tent here.
Besides Jogi, his son and MlA from Marwahi Amit Jogi and the former Chief Minister’s wife Dr Renu Jogi addressed election meetings.
In totality, the contest has become very interesting in the Mahasamund seat. The seat comprises of Mahasamund, Saraipali, Basna, Rajim, Khallari, Dhamtari, Kurud and Bindrawangarh Assembly segments. Out of them, leaving Dhamtari and Mahasamund, all other assembly seats are currently with the BJP.
From Mahasamund, Independent MlA Dr Vimal Chopra has provided his support to the BJP and campaigning for the BJP candidate. Both the candidates have visited almost all the areas. When the former Chief Minister is confident of his activeness, the BJP candidate Chandulal Sahu has hope of the Modi wave and the work of chief minister Raman Singh benefitting him in the constituency.
The situation of former chief minister Ajit Jogi is considered strong in Rajim, Khallari and Dhamtari assembly segments, whereas, in other areas, BJP’s Chandulal Sahu is considered to be having an edge.
The situation is similar in Kanker lok Sanha seat. The BJP, while denying ticket to four-time MP from here Sohan Potai, has fielded former Minister and Antagarh MlA Vikram Usendi in the election arena, whereas, the Congress has reposed confidence in former candidate Phulodevi Netam.
In the last election, Netam had been defeated with 18,000 votes. In the Assembly election, the Congress here had displayed better performance. The Congress had captured six seats of Kanker, Bhanupratappur, Keshkal, Dondilohara, Gundardehi and Balod assembly constituencies of this lS seat, whereas, the BJP has Nagari-Sihawa and Antagarh seats.
Total of 10 candidates, including the BJP and the Congress are in the Kanker seat reserved for Scheduled Tribe, but the main contest is directly between the BJP and the Congress. The Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had addressed election meeting at Karhibhadar in Balod in favour of Phulodevi Netam, whereas, Raman Singh has addressed more than half a dozen meetings in favour of Usendi.
In the Rajnandgaon lok Sabha seat, Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son Abhishek Singh is the candidate who had been very active even during the last Assembly polls to campaign for the party. BJP candidate Abhishek’s electioneering is going on in a systematic manner. He had visited the whole area. Here, large number of Congress leaders have shifted their allegiance to the BJP. PWD Minister Rajesh Munat is holding the responsibilites of election management here.
BJP National president Rajnath Singh had addressed election meetings here in favour of Abhishek Singh. Besides, Raman Singh himself had addressed more than half dozen meetings in the Rajnandgaon lok Sabha constituency.
However, in favour the Congress candidate, only its State President Bhupesh Baghel has done the campaigning. The election management of the Congress has been disturbed here. In the last date of electioneering in the three seats, candidates of both the BJP and Congress were seen campaigning aggressively.