BJP Chhattisgarh Focuses On Weak Areas, Chooses Nephew Vijay Baghel In CM Bhupesh Baghel's Patan

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday (18 August) released a list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Chhattisgarh assembly elections.

Of these 21 seats, the Patan constituency in Durg district is of special interest as the incumbent Congress Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel represents this seat.

His nephew, Vijay Baghel has been chosen as the BJP candidate for this seat. The party's intention is to limit Baghel to Patan, so that he doesn't turn the wave in Congress' favour in the state.

Vijay Baghel is currently a Member of Parliament (MP) from Durg. Both the uncle and nephew have faced each other twice in Assembly battles—in 2008 and 2013—each winning once.

Bhupesh Baghel has won at Patan in three of the four assembly elections. Only in 2008, he was defeated by his nephew. However, it is unclear yet if this time the CM will contest from the same seat.

Notably, Vijay Baghel has been publicly stating for a year that if the opportunity arose, he would contest from Patan. Now, the BJP has given him that opportunity.

It is expected that the BJP workers will send the message to Patan's voters that if Bhupesh Baghel is defeated, they could potentially make their nephew the next Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.

Both uncle and nephew were together in Congress. In 2000, during the election for the newly formed Bhilai-Charoda Municipal Corporation, a conflict arose within the Congress over ticket distribution, leading to a rebellion.

Bhupesh Baghel gave the ticket to his uncle (Late Shri Shyamacharan Baghel). In opposition, Vijay Baghel left Congress and joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). He contested independently and won with a significant margin against both Congress and BJP candidates.

In the 23-year political rivalry, Bhupesh Baghel did not comment against Vijay Baghel, but since the BJP appointed Vijay Baghel as the Coordinator of the Election Manifesto Committee, the CM has started speaking out.

Coming back to BJP's candidate list, it includes 16 fresh faces, most of whom represent district panchayat bodies, alongside five candidates who are former MLAs. Among these nominees, there are also five women.

Out of the 21 seats for which candidates have been declared by the BJP, ten are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and one is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC). Currently, all of these 21 seats are under the control of the Congress party.

The BJP has reportedly released its candidate list for the seats where there were relatively fewer disagreements within the party regarding the nominees.

In the 2018 elections, the BJP failed to secure victory in any of these 21 seats. Even in 2013, when the BJP retained power in the state, it faced defeat in 16 out of these 21 seats.

According to a BJP leader who spoke to news agency PTI, the party's influence in these 21 seats is not particularly strong. Therefore, the early announcement of candidates is intended to provide them with ample time to engage with the public and establish connections.

In the 2018 elections, the Congress secured victory in 68 out of the total 90 seats, while the BJP came in second with 15 seats. The JCC (J) won five seats, and its ally, the BSP, secured two seats.

At present, the Congress holds 71 seats in the legislative assembly.