Congress MlA from Marwahi, Amit Jogi has said that nobody from this family would contest the lok Sabha polls from the Bilaspur seat.
Jogi said that the Congress party High Command was also informed about the decision. It was learnt that the State unit of the party has been trying to field former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi from the Bilaspur seat. Amit’s name is also making rounds from the Bilaspur seat. The former Chief Minister had expressed his wish to contest the lok Sabha election from either Kanker or Mahasamund seat, sources informed.
He had also attended several programmes in Kanker. His supporters there have started preparations for his candidature from the seat, it was learnt State President Bhupesh Baghel, leader of the Opposition TS Singh Deo and Congress party’s State In-charge BK Hariprasad have reached Delhi to hold deliberations on the choice of candidates for the lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh.
According to sources, these leaders have held several rounds of meetings over issuance of party tickets. Unanimity has reached in almost all the seats, it was learnt. It has been said that in the first list, candidates from Bastar, Kanker, Sarguja, Raigarh, Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur and Janjgir-Champa would be declared. In addition, in the remaining seats, declaration of candidates could be delayed.
According to the sources, candidates for Raipur, Durg and Mahasamund are likely to be decided on a caste basis. The name of Former Minister Mohammed Akbar is considered to be almost final from Raipur, though some powerful leaders have played the backward class card, it was learnt. They were said to be trying to bring consensus on the name of former District Panchayat President Chhaya Verma from this seat. To decide the candidate for Durg, the opinion of the party’s National Treasurer Motilal Vora would have significance.
Many leaders of the party are camping in Delhi to protest the candidature of ex-MP Karuna Shukla, who recently had joined the Congress, from Bilaspur seat. However, it is said that former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and Union Minister of State Dr Charandas Mahant are in one accord over Karuna Shukla’s candidature. Because of that, her ticket from Bilaspur is considered to be almost decided, it was learnt.