Raipur, Mar 16 (PTI) Of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, the electoral battle in Raigarh constituency, where the ruling BJP has fielded Radheshyam Rathiya, will be a keenly watched one.
Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7. Counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Following are the Lok Sabha seats to watch out for in Chhattisgarh: 1. Raigarh: This seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes in north Chhattisgarh is also the home turf of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who won it in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections.
In 2019, the BJP fielded Gomti Sai who defeated Congress’ Laljeet Singh Rathia by 66,027 votes. Gomti Sai was elected to the assembly last year, and the BJP has this time fielded Radheshyam Rathiya, a fresh face.
The BJP has not lost this seat in the last 25 years.
2. Raipur: This urban parliamentary constituency in central Chhattisgarh is currently represented by Sunil Soni of the BJP, which has never lost from here since the formation of the state in 2000.
The party has this time fielded eight-term MLA Brijmohan Agrawal, currently a minister in the Sai-led government. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Soni had defeated Congress’ Pramod Dubey by 3,48,238 votes.
Senior BJP leader Ramesh Bais, who is now Maharashtra Governor, had represented this seat seven times from 1989 to 2014. The Congress has fielded former MLA Vikas Upadhyay who was elected to the assembly for the first time in 2018 from Raipur City West, but lost in 2023.
3. Surguja: This seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes falls in north Chhattisgarh. The BJP has never lost this seat since 2000. In 2019, the saffron party’s Renuka Singh defeated Congress’ Khel Sai Singh by 1,57,873 votes. Renuka Singh was later inducted as Union minister of state and she won the assembly election in 2023 from Premnagar.
The BJP has now fielded former MLA Chintamani Maharaj, who defected from the Congress before the assembly polls.
The region has been witnessing an agitation by the tribal community against coal mines allotted to the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited in the biodiversity-rich Hasdeo-Arand region. The protest may affect the ruling party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha contest, according to observers.
4. Korba: This semi-urban seat, largely inhabited by tribal communities, is currently represented by Congress’ Jyotsana Mahant, wife of former Union minister Charan Das Mahant. In 2019, Jyotsana Mahant defeated BJP’s Jyoti Nand Dubey by 26,249 votes. The Congress has renominated her, while the BJP has fielded Saroj Pandey, who earlier represented Durg in the Lok Sabha, making it an interesting contest.
5. Bastar: This Scheduled Tribes seat falls in Naxal-affected south Chhattisgarh and is currently held by state Congress chief Dipak Baij, an influential tribal leader.
In 2019, Baij defeated BJP’s Baidu Ram Kashyap by 38,982 votes. This time, the BJP has fielded Mahesh Kashyap, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist and chief of the BJP’s ST unit in Bastar district.
6. Rajnandgaon: This semi-urban seat borders Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Congress has fielded former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from this seat, which is currently held by BJP’s Santosh Pandey who defeated Congress’ Bholaram Sahu by 1,11, 966 votes in 2019. The BJP has renominated Pandey.
Rajnandgaon is the home turf of BJP leader and former chief minister Raman Singh who was elected to the Lok Sabha from this seat in 1999 elections. PTI TKP KRK VT VT
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