BJP releases second list of 64 candidates for Chhattisgarh Assembly polls; former CM, state party president to contest

The first list of 21 candidates for the state was released in August. The second list of 64 candidates that was announced today includes names of former chief minister Raman Singh and state BJP president Arun Sao. The third list will be announced very soon, party sources said.

Raipur:Close on the heels of the Election Commission of India announcing dates for polls in five states, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its second list of candidates for Chhattisgarh. A list of 64 candidates, including three-time former chief minister Raman Singh and BJP state president Arun Sao, was released by the party on Monday.

Earlier in August, BJP had announced the first list of 21 candidates for the state. The second list has been announced a day after the party's central election committee meeting in Delhi. Sao had been summoned to Delhi on Thursday where discussions were held with the senior leaders. The final list of candidates will be announced very soon, a party leader said.

Former Chhattisgarh CM, Singh would contest from Rajnandgaon and Sao from Lormi. Some of the prominent names included in the second list are MPs namely Renuka Singh, who would contest from Bharatpur-Sonhat and Gomati Sai from Pathalgaon.

Others included in the list are Dharamjeet Singh from Takhatpur, Vishnu Dev Sai from Kunkuri, Ramdayal Uikey from Pali-Tanakhar, OP Choudharu from Raigarh, Punnulal Mohale from Mungeli, Brij Mohan Agarwal from Raipur City South and Sharamlal Kaushik from Bilha.

According to BJP sources, the party has finalised the names of candidates after categorising seats as per four conditions. The first category includes seats where party has performed consistently well while the second category had seats where BJP registered a mixed record of victory. Then there were seats where the party is considered to be in a relatively weaker position and finally those seats where it has been repeatedly defeated in the last three elections.

Singh was defeated in 2018 Assembly polls after running the government for three terms. In the previous election, Congress secured 43.04% votes and BJP 32.9%.