Chhattisgarh Congress on damage control mode to pacify MLAs who were denied tickets

Elections to the 90-member assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17, and the results will be announced on December 3

Leaders in the Chhattisgarh Congress unit are planning to reach out to eight sitting MLAs in a bid to pacify them and assure suitable positions if the party returns to power in the state, a day after dropping them from the first list of candidates in the upcoming assembly elections, senior party functionaries said.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. (PTI Photo)

The Congress released its first list of 30 candidates on Sunday and none of the eight has so far openly expressed displeasure with the names announced.

The sitting MLAs who were denied tickets in the first list were are Muneshwar Baghel (Dongargarh), Chhani Sahu (Khujji), Mamta Chandrakar (Pandariya), Anup Nag (Antahgarh), Shishupal Sori (Kanker), Devti Karma (Dantewada), Rajaman Benjam (Chitrakoot) and Gurudayal Singh Banjare (Nawagarh).

Some party leaders, however, have spoken against the party’s decision.

“The Congress has denied tickets to 8 sitting MLAs from the 30 announced in the first list. They had won by margins ranging between 11,000 and 30,000 votes, which is very unusual for the party in any state. I don’t know how they will pacify the dropped MLAs, but they will have a solid backup strategy. As far as I know, no one has openly revolted till now. But there could be revolts in the coming days,” a senior party leader said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, some of these MLAs have indeed expressed displeasure, if one goes by local media reports.

“I was given ticket for the first time in 2018. I worked hard for the people of my constituency and raised their issues in the assembly. I never raised issues for personal gains, so I don’t know how the government and party judged my work. I will continue to work for the people,” Chhani Sahu said.

Similarly, Muneshwar Baghel in a statement to the media allegedly said that he has offers from other parties to contest the polls, without naming any. “Most of my workers are ready to resign,” he said.

Congress strategists claimed that they are reaching out to people who were denied tickets and have plans for them.

“We know some of them are unhappy. We are reaching out to them and assuring them that they will be adjusted in the government because we are comfortably coming to power. Our aim is to ensure no one contests as an independent candidate or joins other parties. We will also call a meeting after the complete list is out,” said a close functionary of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, adding that before the 2018 elections, the Congress party assured senior leaders who were denied tickets with proper roles in the government, which they implemented as well.

Of the 30 candidates announced by the party, 14 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and three for Scheduled Caste (SC) categories. In the remaining 13 general category seats, the Congress has fielded nine candidates belonging to other backward classes (OBCs).

Elections to the 90-member assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17. While polling for 20 seats will be held in the first phase, the second phase will see voting in the remaining 70 constituencies. Results will be announced on December 3.