The Congress on Thursday reacted sharply to the BJP’s allegation of the former fielding a large number of Independents with first name similar to its candidate Chandulal Sahu in the Mahasamund lok Sabha constituency.
In a statement, Congress State media in-charge Shailesh Nitin Trivedi alleged that the BJP which is already sensing defeat of its candidate at the hands of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi in Mahasamund is trying to derive political advantage.
“I challenge the BJP to tell us where in the law it has been written that no person with a similar name can contest a poll in the country,” he said. He said that the BJP had been raking up fake issues after sensing a certain defeat in all the 11 lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh.
Trivedi said that this is the first time since the formation of Chhattisgarh that the BJP is facing stiff challenge in the lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh.
He said that the environment in all the 11 lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh is in favour of the Congress party. Trivedi said that Chief Minister Raman Singh himself by accepting stiff challenge in four lok Sabha seats has admitted defeat.
BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi held a public meeting in Kondagaon on March 28 and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also held a public meeting in Kondagaon on March 31. The number of people who participated in the public meeting of the Congress vice-president was double that of the BJP’s PM candidate, he claimed.
Trivedi said that the Congress policy is based on principles. “It is not the fault of the Congress party that people are shifting camps,” he said.