Chhattisgarh: Cong releases first list of 30 candidates; gives tickets to CM, his deputy

Congress released its list of 30 candidates for Chhattisgarh. Apart from the chief minister and his deputy, many old-timers have been given tickets.

Raipur: The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 30 candidates, including chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and his deputy TS Singh Deo for poll-bound Chhattisgarh.

Baghel has been fielded from Patan and Deo from Ambikapur. The ruling party has fielded Lakheshwar Baghel from Bastar, Deepak Baiki from Chitrakot, Ravindra Choubey from Nawarah, Taradhwaj Sahu from Durg (Rural) and Yogesh Verma from Khairagarh. Girish Devangan has been fielded from Rajnandgaon, where BJP had fielded former chief minister Raman Singh.

The grand old party took a lot of time to select the candidates. First, the leaders from all the assembly constituencies staked their claims and in many seats there were more than 100 claimants. After which, candidates were shortlisted and the list was sent to the party high command. Several meetings of the screening committee were held to finalise the names. According to Congress sources, over 2000 candidates had applied for the 90 assembly seats of the state.

Baghel said that the party has released its list of candidates on the auspicious occasion of the first day of Navratri. "Best wishes to all the candidates. Thanks to the leadership for giving me another chance from Patan Assembly," he said.

Chhattisgarh will go to polls in two phases with the first round scheduled on November 7 and the second on November 17. The results would be declared on December 3. In the previous election in 2018, Congress won 68 seats.

On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has named 85 candidates in its two lists. The party is banking on the alleged corruption of the ruling Congress in the upcoming elections.