The high-pitched campaign for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections for the remaining seven seats in Chhattisgarh ended on Sunday. These seats will go to polls on May 7.
The campaigns of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress were focused on issues like corruption, Constitution, reservation, Ayodhya temple construction and Maoism.
For the BJP, in this phase, prominent leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president JP Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath led the campaigning while for the Congress, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among the star campaigners.
PM Modi addressed two rallies for the third phase and targeted the Congress over its remarks on the Constitution, inheritance tax remarks by Sam Pitroda, its leaders skipping the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, terrorism and Maoism.
On the other hand, Congress leaders Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, addressed one rally each, and mounted a counter offensive attack claiming their party thinks for the interest of the poor while the BJP-led Centre wanted to change the Constitution and curtail people’s rights. They also targeted the ruling party over electoral bonds.
Congress based its campaign on its poll promises including Mahalakshmi Yojna, caste census, recruitment to 30 lakh vacant government posts, starting apprenticeships for youth and abolishing the contractual system in government companies and farmers loan waiver.
Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state are being held in three phases. While the Naxal-affected Bastar constituency (Scheduled Tribe-reserved) saw voting on April 19, three other seats – Rajanandgaon, Kanker (ST) and Mahasamund – were held in the second phase on April 26.
The remaining seven seats- Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Janjgir-Champa (Scheduled Caste- reserved), Korba, Surguja (ST) and Raigarh (ST) will go to polls in the third phase.
As per a statement of the office of chief electoral officer, a total of 1 68 candidates, including 26 women, are in fray in the third phase where 1,39,01,285 voters, including 69,33,121 men, 69,67,544 women and 620 members of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise.
The number of voters in the age group of 18-19 years is 3,98,416, it said.
As many as 1 5,701 polling booths have been set up in the seven constituencies. The polling time in all seven seats is from 7am to 6pm, it said.
The last phase will see a contest between the BJP’s influential leader and incumbent state minister Brijmohan Agrawal and the Congress’ Vikas Upadhyay, a former MLA. In another high-profile seat, Korba, the BJP has fielded its influential woman leader and former MP Saroj Pandey against the Congress’ sitting MP Jyotsana Mahant, wife of incumbent leader of Opposition, Charandas Mahant.
In Durg, the Congress chose a fresh face Rajendra Sahu against sitting BJP MP Vijay Baghel. In Bilaspur seat, the Congress has fielded incumbent MLA Devendra Yadav while the BJP has fielded Tokhan Sahu, a former MLA. In the lone SC reserved seat Janjgir-Champa, former state minister Shivkumar Dahariya is the Congress’ nominee and Kamlesh Jangde, a woman leader, is the BJP nominee. The Surguja seat will see a contest between the BJP’s Chintamani Maharaj, who defected from the Congress before the last assembly polls, and the Congress’s Shashi Singh, a fresh face.
The tribal-dominated Raigarh seat will see a contest between the BJP’s Radheshyam Rathiya and the Congress’ Menka Devi Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Sarangarh.
In the three Lok Sabha polls in 2004, 2009 and 2014 after the formation of Chhattisgarh, the BJP had won 10 out of 11 seats. In 2019, the BJP won nine seats and the Congress 2.
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