Seven of the 11 parliamentary constituencies in Chhattisgarh will poll in the third phase on Tuesday, marking the end of the Lok Sabha election in the state, months after the Congress party came back to power in the state after 15 years.
The ruling Congress party faces the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its huge victory on 68 of the 90 assembly seats in November-December last year. The BJP, which won 10 of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014, is looking to repeat its performance in the general election.
WATCH| Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Big fights to watch out for in Phase 3 of voting
The first phase of polling was held on April 11 for Bastar and second phase in Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund and Kanker parliamentary constituencies on April 18. The counting of votes will be held on May 23.
Read: All full coverage of Lok Sabha elections 2019
Voting will be held on Surguja, Raigarh, Janjgir-Champa, Korba, Bilaspur, Durg and Raipur seats and will witness a direct fight between the two parties. All of them, except Durg, is held by the BJP’s leaders.
The BJP has dropped all its sitting members of Parliament from six of these seats in a bid to fight anti-incumbency mood in the state.
While there is a contest between the Congress and BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded its candidates from all these Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh after it won from two assembly seats five months ago.
The BJP has fielded former member of Parliament and senior party leader Guharam Ajgale on the reserved seat of Jangir-Champa and dropped its two-term sitting lawmaker Kamla Devi Patle.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP has fielded former member of Parliament and senior party leader Guharam Ajgale on the reserved seat of Jangir-Champa and dropped its two-term sitting lawmaker Kamla Devi Patle.
{{/usCountry}}Read: All you need to know about Chhattisgarh
Ajgale has a stronghold in the northern plains of Chhattisgarh. Congress’ Ravi Bhardwaj and Dauram Ratnakar of the BSP are also the contenders on the seat reserved for members of Scheduled Castes making it a triangular fight.
The Mayawati-led party’s alliance with Ajit Jogi’s Janata Chhattisgarh Congress (JCC) has added to its confidence on the seat dominated by the Satnamis over which the former chief minister has considerable clout.
Former MLA Pratima Chandrakar will take on the BJP’s Vijay Baghel, a Kurmi leader and former MLA, from the Durg Lok Sabha seat in what is being seen as a prestige battle between the two parties. Geetanjali Singh of the BSP is also in the fray on this seat.
State home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu of the Congress was elected from Durg in the last Lok Sabha election. Sahu, who was the Congress state unit chief, later resigned from the seat and contested the assembly polls. The Durg seat is vacant since November.
Congress has nominated Jyotsna Mahant, the wife of assembly Speaker Charandas Mahant, from Korba, which has a significant tribal population, against the BJP’s Jyotinand Dubey and Parmeet Singh of the BSP.
In the largely rural constituency of Bilaspur, the BJP’s Arun Saw has been given ticket in place of Lakhanlal Sahu. Arun Saw contesting against Atal Srivastav of the Congress and BSP leader Uttam Das Guru Gosai. They are among the 25 candidates fighting from the seat.
Similarly, veteran OBC leader Ramesh Bais, who has been representing the Raipur Lok Sabha constituency continuously since 1996, was dropped in another course correction after the assembly poll loss by the BJP.
Sunil Soni is the state opposition party’s new candidate and is pitted against the Congress’ Pramod Dubey on the Raipur Lok Sabha seat. The BSP’s Khileshwar Sahu is also among the 25 candidates trying their luck from the seat under the state capital of Chhattisgarh. Sahu, in a setback to the BSP, has said he would support the Congress nominee from the seat.
The Congress party’s Chhattisgarh unit has released a separate election manifesto for the Raipur Lok Sabha seat, which focuses on local issues including proposals like a smart parking zone, more facilities in localities built by the housing board, Metro rail, Ayurveda university and enhanced railway facilities.
Surguja, one of the Maoist affected areas in the state, will see the BJP’s Renuka Singh, sitting Congress MLA from Premnagar Khel Sai Singh, and Maya Bhagat of the BSP in a contest.
Sitting MP from Surguja Kamalbhan Singh Marabi was not renominated by the BJP from the seat reserved for members of Scheduled Tribes. The Congress performed brilliantly in Surguja as well as other tribal-dominated constituencies of Bastar and Raigarh.
Two-time Congress MLA from Dharamjaigarh Laljeet Singh Rathiya will fight from the Raigarh Lok Sabha seat reserved for candidates from Scheduled Tribes. He is up against the BJP’s tribal woman leader Gomtee Sai and BSP’s Innocent Kujur. The BJP has dropped Union minister of state for steel Vishnudeo Sai, who had won four times from 1999 to 2014 from the Raigarh seat.