Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: BJP likely to announce list of candidates on Oct 19-20

Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: Chief Minister Raman Singh has said that the names of candidates contesting in 90 assembly constituencies will be announced on October 19 and 20.

A panel of probable candidates has been made in every assembly, which will now be sent to the Central Election Committee in Delhi. (Image: PTI)

Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: Ahead of the much crucial Chhattisgarh Assembly elections which is scheduled to take place next month, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Chief Minister Raman Singh has said that the names of candidates contesting in 90 assembly constituencies in the upcoming polls will be announced on October 19 and 20. Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said, “Nearly 90 assemblies were discussed. District presidents, MPs also gave recommendations regarding names. A panel of probable candidates has been made in every assembly, which will now be sent to the Central Election Committee in Delhi. On October 19-20, the names of all the 90 seats will be announced.” On Thursday, Congress leadership announced the first list of candidates for the upcoming to the legislative assembly of Chhattisgarh. The list of 12 candidates includes Anoop Naag who has been fielded from Antagarh constituency, Manoj Singh Mandavi from Bhanupratappur, Lakheshwar Baghel from Bastar, Devati Karma from Dantewada among others. As many as 18 Maoist-affected constituencies of Chhattisgarh will go for polls on November 12, whereas the rest 72 seats will witness polls in the second phase on November 20. Results will be announced on December 11. According to the Election Commission, there are total 1,85,45,819 voters including 92,95,301 men, 92,49,49,459 women and 1,059 third-gender voters in the state. The state has 23,632 polling booths, out of which 19,240 are in rural and 4,392 in urban areas. The BJP has been ruling the state since three successive terms since 2003. During the 2013 Assembly elections, Congress won 39 seats while the BJP 49 bagged seats. However, the awaited Chhattisgarh elections is said to be three-way battle with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Chhattisgarh Janata Congress (CJC) led by former CM Ajit Jogi along with Communist Party of India (CPI) will also battle for pride against the BJP and Congress. The JCC (J)-BSP will support CPI candidates in Konta and Dantewada, while the Left party and affiliated labour unions will campaign for the former's candidates in Chitrakot and Bijapur in Bastar division and in industrial areas like Korba and Bhilai Nagar, CJC chief informed. CJC claims to have a significant presence in the Bastar region, particularly in Dantewada and Konta seats, from where it has fielded its popular leaders Nandaram Sodhi and Manish Kunjam respectively for the upcoming polls.