Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: BJP announces first list of 77 candidates; Fields Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon
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Chhattisgarh Assembly Election Full Detail Here
Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2018: Ahead of the much crucial Chhattisgarh Assembly election which is scheduled to take place next month, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released the first list of candidates for 77 out of the total 90 seats. “For Chhattisgarh Assembly elections today we have decided candidates for 77 seats out of 90 seats,” said Union Minister JP Nadda after BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting in Delhi. The CEC meeting took place earlier in the day in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. Nadda, while addressing the media after CEC meeting, said that former IAS officer OP Chaudhary will be contesting from Chhattisgarh's Kharsia constituency. Chief Minister Raman Singh has been fielded from Rajnandgaon, a seat from where Congress is yet to declare candidates. The Congress is out of power in the state for 15 years. Congress leadership on October 8 announced the first list of candidates for the upcoming to the legislative assembly of Chhattisgarh.
The announcement of candidates is reportedly made by the Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC) chaired by party president Rahul Gandhi. 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. The last date of filing of nomination is on October 23. Eleven out of the 12 candidates declared by the Congress are in seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The senior leadership of the state Congress was in Delhi last where the screening committee held meetings on the sidelines of candidate selection. Eighteen of the 90 Assembly seats will go to polls on November 12, including Maoist-affected seats such as the Bastar range and Rajnandgaon district. The second phase of polling is on November 20. 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.