Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: Ajit Singh's Daughter-in-law to Contest from Akaltara on BSP Ticket

Raipur: Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi's daughter-in-law is all set to contest assembly elections on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket. The announcement comes a day after Jogi decided not to fight the polls, and instead engage in campaigning for alliance partners, including BSP.

Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) chief's 31-year-old daughter-in-law Richa had joined Mayawati-led party last Sunday, following which her name surfaced in BSP's list on Friday. Richa will contest elections from Akaltara in Janjgir-Champa district.

With this, the Jogi clan, a powerful family in Chhattisgarh politics, is sure to see a divide among Congress, JCC and BSP. Jogi's wife Renu is a sitting MLA from Kota and has reportedly applied for a ticket from the same seat.

Time and again, Renu has expressed her faith in Congress, declining to side with her husband's party. Besides, Jogi’s son Amit, a sitting MLA from Marwahi, the traditional seat of Ajit Jogi, is sure to contest poll from the constituency on JCC ticket.

The Akaltara seat was won by Congress' Chunnilal Sahu in 2013, while the BJP had managed win here in 2008 as BSP's Saurabh Singh had defeated the Congress candidate. Singh, however, later on switched over to Congress ahead of 2013 assembly polls.

Meanwhile in 2003, when the state was carved out of MP and went to polls for the first time, Congress' Ramadhar had won the election defeating the BJP candidate. However, the victory margin was merely 1,430 votes.

Awaiting development for years, Akaltara is primarily habituated by tribals who constitute 38% of the total population in the constituency.

With the BSP enjoying its traditional votebank in Akaltara, Richa could make things interesting for both BJP and Congress.

An MBA in Human Resource, Richa who till now remained away from the limelight, was instrumental in strengthening the party organisation after her father-in-law had founded Janta Congress Chhattisgarh in 2016, breaking away from the Congress. In the past, she expressed reluctance for contesting polls with a rider that she might fight an election if the need be.

JCC and BSP have gone into a pre-poll alliance in which the BSP would contest polls on 35 seats, while the JCC would field candidates on the rest of the seats, the party has inked a deal with CPI for two seats in Bastar region.

A bureaucrat-turned-politician Ajit Jogi was the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Early this year, he announced to take on Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon.

With its 90 seats, Chhatisgarh goes to polls in two phases on Nov 12 and 20 and the results would be announced on Dec 11.