Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Assam registered wins in their respective Elite Group C Ranji Trophy matches played across different venues in the country.
While Uttar Pradesh thrashed hosts Odisha by 10 wickets in Bhubaneswar, Assam defeated Tripura by a massive 211 runs in Agartala.
On the other hand, Rajasthan hammered Services by five wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, chasing a stiff 357-run target.
Rajasthan rode on a magnificent 159 by their opener Amitkumar Gautam, who struck 13 fours and six other hits over the fence.
Opener Gautam, who had fallen cheaply in the first innings, and his partner Chetan Bist (78) laid the foundation of the win with their 170-run stand for the first wicket.
23-year-old Gautam, a right-handed batsman, scored runs when his team needed the most. He hammered a listless Services attack as their bowlers leaked runs.
When Gautam fell, the job was nearly done as Rajasthan needed just another 25 runs. Then R K Bishnoi (26 not out) and T N Dhillon (10 not out) took their side home with five wickets to spare as Rajasthan earned six points from the game.
Brief Scores:
At Jaipur: Services 228 and 264 against Rajasthan 136 and 357/5 (A V Gautam 159, Chetan Bist 78). Rajasthan won by five wickets.
At Bhubaneswar: Odisha 256 and 221 (Sandeep Pattnaik 46, Shivam Mavi 5-68) versus Uttar Pradesh 437 and 44/0 (Madhav Kaushik 22 not out). Uttar Pradesh won by 10 wickets.
At Agartala: Assam 327 and 239/6 Declared (Riyan Parag 80) versus Tripura 139 and 216 (Harmeet Singh 33, Mukhtar Hussain 5-73). Assam won by 211 runs.
At Porvorim: Goa 468/9 Declared versus Jammu and Kashmir 271 and 242/5 (Ian Chauhan 113 not out). Match Drawn. Goa take first innings lead.
Of the 162 BJP candidates, announced so far in two instalments for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly polling for which is due on December 7, one absence the observers have marked is of any Muslim candidate, strengthening the perception that the party is playing the Hindutva card.
Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, who comes from Alwar, strongly denies the Hindutva slant, yet there are others in the party who say the BJP knows it well that Muslims in Rajasthan don’t constitute a vote bank.
One of the sitting MLAs, Habibur Rehman from Nagaur, on Wednesday joined the Congress when he failed to find his name in the list released on Sunday.
Rahman said the BJP is playing the Hindutva card in Rajasthan.
Another state minister Yunus Khan too failed to find his name. But, unlike Rehman, Khan has expressed his loyalty to the party.
Soon after the BJP released its first list of candidates, general secretary of BJP’s Minority cell M Sadiq had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his concern as to how party members would reach out to the community if Muslims don’t get the party nomination.
The BJP in 2013 had fielded four Muslim candidates. Two of them were elected: Habibur Rehman from Nagaur seat and Yunus Khan from Deedwana.
“The BJP is a democratic party unlike the Congress where a board decides a candidate. The candidates are selected keeping in mind a variety of factors, including candidates’ strengths,” said Mahesh Sharma.
Avinash Rai Khanna, BJP’s Rajasthan election in-charge, said party candidates are shortlisted after ‘raishumari’ in consultation with grassroots workers as well as top leaders. He said the final BJP list is yet to come and until then no conclusion should be drawn on the composition of candidates based on caste and religion.
Rajasthan Congress vice-president Archana Sharma said, “The BJP could not perform in the state. Now they are trying to polarise the situation. But this won’t work… Rajasthan is no Uttar Pradesh.”
Salawat Khan, General Secretary, BJP Minority Morcha, said in the last elections, the party gave four tickets to Muslims. “So far we have not been given any party nomination. We are still hopeful that the party would consider candidates from the community,” he said.
In 2013 polls, the BJP had swept 163 of 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan.
Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.
Match:CTB vs TS, 1st Match, Mzansi Super League 2018
Date:Friday, November 16, 2018
Time:05:00 PM GMT
Venue:Newlands, Cape Town
Cape Town Blitz Squad:
Dale Steyn, Samuel Badree, Dawid Malan, Farhaan Behardien (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Dane Piedt, Asif Ali, Jason Smith, Andile Phehlukwayo, Malusi Siboto, Sibonelo Makhanya, George Linde, Ferisco Adams, Kyle Verreynne, Anrich Nortje, Janneman Malan
Tshwane Spartans Squad:
AB de Villiers (c), Sean Williams, Eoin Morgan, Rory Kleinveldt, Dean Elgar, Jeevan Mendis, Robbie Frylinck, Andrew Birch, Gihahn Cloete (wk), Theunis de Bruyn, Sikandar Raza, Lungi Ngidi, Shaun von Berg, Eldred Hawken, Tony de Zorzi, Lutho Sipamla
Both Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot will contest the December 7 Rajasthan election, the Congress party has decided as it tackles a much-reported rift between its two top leaders in the state, both chief ministerial aspirants.
“I and Sachin Pilot will both fight the Rajasthan assembly elections,” Ashok Gehlot, a former chief minister, told reporters in Delhi, Sachin Pilot by his side.
Sachin Pilot added: “On Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s instruction and on Gehlotji‘s request, I have decided to contest the assembly elections.”
Who among the two would contest the election has been the subject of much speculation in the run-up to the polls. Both are seen as the Congress’s candidates for chief minister; the party hopes to win back the BJP-ruled state riding on what it sees as anti-incumbency.
“We have said many times that whatever Rahul Gandhi decides on CM (chief minister) and we will abide by that. It’s a tradition for Congress in Rajasthan to not declare CM before elections,” Mr Gehlot told reporters.
The Congress in Rajasthan is deeply divided between factions loyal to Ashok Gehlot, the veteran, and 41-year-old Sachin Pilot, the state Congress chief, representing a younger leadership.
The party was seen to be reluctant to field either of them, if only to avoid the inevitable tussle for the top post if it does win.
The party’s Rajasthan unit advised its leadership to follow the Madhya Pradesh model of not declaring a chief ministerial face; a similar rivalry for the top job is seen between Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
A section in the party believes both should stay out of the contest and focus on campaigning across the state as they are seen as crowd-pullers. Another section feels the two should contest – Ashok Gehlot from his seat Sardarpura and Sachin Pilot from a seat in Ajmer – his old parliamentary constituency – or Dausa, from where his father was an MP.
Sachin Pilot was minister in the Manmohan Singh government but lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Ajmer. Earlier this year, he did not contest the by-elections for the seat, which the Congress won by a huge margin.
This morning, the BJP parliamentarian from Dausa, Harish Meena, quit his party and joined the Congress, delivering a blow to the ruling party.
Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.
Harish Chandra Meena, during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had defeated Kirori Lal Meena
Congress announced both Pilot and Gehlot will be contesting upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections
Assembly elections in Rajasthan are due on December 7
Harish Chandra Meena, the former DGP of Rajasthan who fought and won from Dausa Parliamentary constituency on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket in 2014, joined the Congress today. Meena was welcomed in the party by former Rajasthan chief minister and Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot. Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Sachin Pilot and Congress’s state in-charge for Rajasthan Avinash Pande were also present.
“I have joined the Congress today without any pre-condition,” Meena mentioned.
Harish Chandra Meena, during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had defeated Kirori Lal Meena, who had contested on the ticket of National People’s Party (NPP), by a margin of more than 45,000 votes. Kirori Lal Meena later joined the BJP and is now a Rajya Sabha MP from the BJP. Also in the fray during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was Harish Chandra – Meena’s brother, and Congress leader Namonarain Meena, stood third in the contest.
The Congress also announced that both Pilot and Gehlot will be contesting the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections.
Within the political circles it was being speculated that the senior leadership of the Congress was not in favour of either Sachin Pilot or Ashok Gehlot contesting the upcoming Assembly elections. However, the matter was put to rest after it was declared that both will be contesting the upcoming elections.
“Both Sachin and I will contest the upcoming Assembly elections,” Ashok Gehlot mentioned.
Sachin Pilot can contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Ajmer whereas Gehlot can be the Congress candidate from Sardarpura.
CONGRESS WILL GET A HISTORIC MANDATE: SACHIN PILOT
Earlier, sounding upbeat about his party’s chances, Sachin Pilot had mentioned to India Today that the Congress will get a historic mandate in the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections.
Pilot, while speaking with India Today, claimed that the BJP deserves to be booted out claiming that practical, implementable promises will be announced and the the Congress will deliver them on the ground.
“Mr Gandhi has started a campaign in Rajasthan two months ago and we are taking it forward.”
– Sachin Pilot
“I can’t predict numbers but I can tell you that five years of our work and our travel with all our leaders contributing to make the party strong, we will get a historic mandate. We have shown this in the by-elections when the entire might of the BJP and the government was deployed at the by-elections and we defeated them convincingly in all the by-elections. So, so far, there have been 22 seats where by-election polls have taken place and the Congress party has won 20 of those 22. It tells you something about which way the wind is blowing. We are going with a positive agenda. Mr Gandhi has started a campaign in Rajasthan two months ago and we are taking it forward. We are going to the taluka, to the block, tehsil, and panchayat level. Our booth workers are very active and I think the contest is going to be between the performance of Vasundhara ji’s government, to what she had promised and to what the Congress can actually deliver. No jumlas, no false promises,” Pilot said in an interview
Assembly elections in Rajasthan are due on December 7. Both the BJP and the Congress have, at least on the face of it, been exuding confidence.
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Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday filed his nomination papers for contesting the assembly elections from Gajwel assembly constituency in Siddipet district.
KCR submitted the papers at the Revenue Divisional Office at Gajwel town exactly at 2.34 pm, which is believed to be an auspicious time fixed by his family priests.
He was accompanied by his nephew and state irrigation minister T Harish Rao and a host of party leaders.
Before filing the nomination papers, the TRS chief conducted special prayers at Lord Venkateshawra Swamy temple at Konaipalli village of Nagunuru block, about 30 km from Gajwel.
The temple was decorated with flowers on the occasion of KCR’s special prayers. Temple priest Brahmadev Tripathi and several other senior priests blessed the chief minister.
He placed the nomination appears at the feet of the god, before putting his signature on them.
Later, he addressed the villagers briefly saying that the village and the temple had been sentimental for him since he entered politics in 1983. He vowed to develop the village on all fronts and bring waters of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project to the village by next year.
“I will come to this temple with Kaleswaram water to perform pooja to the Lord”, he promised.
Interestingly, Gajwel assembly constituency has also a strong sentiment attached to it. Ever since it was formed in 1978, no MLA has been elected for two consecutive terms from this constituency, which was once part of Medak district.
Though two former MLAs — B Sanjeeva Rao and J Geetha Reddy represented this constituency for twice in the past, they got elected in different years, but not consecutively.
In 2014, KCR won the election for the first time on TRS ticket over TDP candidate Vanteru Pratap Redddy with a margin of over 19,000 votes, while then sitting Congress MLA T Narsa Reddy came third. Pratap Reddy is now contesting on the Congress ticket, while Narsa Reddy is supporting him.
If the Gajwel jinx for the elected candidates works out this year, too, KCR won’t be able to win the elections again from this constituency. But the chief minister appeared confident of breaking this jinx.
“With the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara and the people of Konaipalli, I am confident of winning the elections again. And the TRS is going to return to power by winning more than 100 out of 119 assembly seats,” he said.
Meanwhile, Harish Rao also filed his nomination papers for contesting the elections from Siddipet constituency. Before praying to the Lord Venkateshwara of Konaipalli, Harish also prayed at a dargah and a church before proceeding to the returning officer’s office to submit his nominations.
M Madhusudhanachary, the speaker of the recently dissolved Telangana Assembly, also filed his nomination from Bhupalpally constituency.
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Many areas of Chhattisgarh will vote for the first time in 20 years
Crossing rivers barefoot, wading through jungles just sanitised by the accompanying security personnel and even airdropped by choppers into the Naxal-affected interiors, many on poll duty in Chhattisgarh feel like the real-life version of the protagonist from Bollywood dark comedy “Newton”, while some say they feel more like a revolutionary such as Bhagat Singh.
They are public sector undertaking (PSU) employees, teachers, anganwadi and panchayat workers, among numerous others braving the treacherous terrain of the infamous Bastar region, which appear even more dangerous after a recent spurt in Naxal attacks ahead of the polls.
Many areas of Chhattisgarh will vote for the first time in 20 years, while some security and local administration officials proudly declare that a few of those are yet to make it to the Google Maps.
Talking to them, the immediate recollection is of Rajkumar Rao-starrer “Newton”, a film that took a satirical look at the Naxal problem through the eyes of a poll officer.
From walking up to 10 km to crossing rivers and spending nights in Naxal-hit areas, the poll officers will have to go past numerous hurdles and face life-threatening challenges to do their duty, but none of them is complaining.
A few of them admit that they are a bit afraid, but they also assert that they still want to do this.
A 25-year-old Anganwadi worker, the mother of two children, from Sukma district, says she is doing this for her father and brother, both of whom were part of the Salwa Judum and killed by Naxals.
Salwa Judum (meaning “Peace March” or “Purification Hunt” in Gondi language) was a militia mobilised and deployed as part of anti-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, aimed at countering Naxal violence in the region. The militia, comprising local tribal youth, received support and training from the Chhattisgarh government. It was banned by a Supreme Court order in 2011.
“I always wanted to do something revolutionary like my father, so I am doing this for him and my brother. We need peace and hopefully, a successful election will lead to that,” the woman, whose husband is in the police and who has left her kids with her mother-in-law, said.
“This is no less than a revolution for me, she added with tears in her eyes.
For another 22-year-old panchayat worker from Sukma, who has been asked to go to the hypersensitive polling booth at Chintalnar, it is a moment of pride as he will be the first person from his village to sit in a chopper.
“I am the only person from my block panchayat who is taking part in this exercise as my other colleagues are married. Being a bachelor, I was chosen. I am scared, but it is okay as I will be the first person from my village to sit in a chopper,” he said with a broad smile on his face.
The poll parties going to the hypersensitive booths on the 80-km stretch from Dornapal to Jagargunda were mostly airlifted and had reached their respective destinations a day or two before the polling day, Sukma Collector Jai Prakash Maurya said.
A teacher from Bijapur district, in his late 30s, who is going to the Usur block on poll duty, said he belonged to a family of freedom fighters and was always inspired by Bhagat Singh.
“I always told my students in the village that you should do something for the country. Now, it is my turn to do something. If you ask me how do I feel, I don’t know, but I might be doing something like what Bhagat Singh did,” he said.
All the 437 polling booths in Sukma and Bijapur districts have been declared as “sensitive”.
Bijapur Collector KB Kunjam said about 80 polling parties were airlifted and 76 relocated to a safer position, but there were still 40-odd booths that were extremely risky.
“Some of the poll officers conveyed to us that some of the polling booths, including those in schools, were painted with messages of boycotting the polls. So, we are making temporary arrangements,” he told PTI.
Both Maurya and Kunjam said some of the poll parties were dispatched two days before the polling.
Besides the local police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and at some places, Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans would accompany them, they said, adding that necessary security arrangements were put in place.
“This election process is like a war for us against Naxals, but without guns and with voting machines,” Maurya said.
On the request of the district collectors, the names of the poll officers have not been mentioned.
Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.
Voting began in 10 out of 18 Assembly constituencies in the first phase of Chhattisgarh elections on Monday under a tight security blanket comprising over 1.25 lakh police and paramilitary personnel. Minutes after Chhattisgarh goes to polls, Maoists attempt to scare voters, 2 kg IED blasted by Maoists near the Tumakpak camp, all safe so far.
70 per cent turnout in first phase of Chhattisgarh polls: EC
56.58% voter turnout recorded till 4.30 pm in the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly polls: ANI
Break-up of polling percentage by assembly seats: 61.47% in Kondagaon; 63.51% in Keshkal; 62% in Kanker; 58% in Bastar; 49% in Dantewada; 60.5% in Khairagarh; 64% in Dongargarh; 65.5% in Khujji.
47.18% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm, reports ANI
In the first phase of the elections in Chhattisgarh, 10.7 percent voter turnout was recorded till 10 am in the 18 constituencies. These 18 constituencies are in the eight Naxal-dominated districts in south Chhattisgarh.
A total of 190 candidates, including Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon, are contesting in this phase. The BJP had lost 12 of these 18 seats in the last polls in 2013.
Nearly one lakh security personnel have been deployed in the Naxal-affected districts going to polls in the first phase in Chhattisgarh on Monday, amid the threat from Maoists who have called for a boycott of the elections.
On the eve of the polls, a sub-inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) lost his life when Naxals detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kanker district while a Maoist was gunned down in an encounter in Bijapur district.
Voting will be held on Monday in 18 seats spread over eight Naxal-affected districts in the state.
Naxal outfits have given calls for boycott of the election and executed over half-a-dozen attacks in the last 15 days, three of them major ones which left 13 people dead including a cameraman of national broadcaster Doordarshan who was covering the election campaign.
According to police, escorting polling parties to their destinations and bringing them back after the polls pose challenges to them in the Naxal hotbed.
“Around one lakh security personnel, including central paramilitary force, have been deployed to ensure peaceful polling in the first phase,” Chhattisgarh’s Special Director General (anti-Naxal operations) D M Awasthi told PTI.
All counter measures have been taken to thwart attempts by Maoists to disrupt the poll process, he said.
A total of 650 companies (roughly around 65,000 security personnel), including of paramilitary forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and other state forces, have been sent by the Centre for poll duty, he said.
These units are apart from the paramilitary personnel and 200 companies of state forces already engaged in the anti- Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, Awasthi said.
He said around 650 polling booth parties were airlifted by helicopters on Saturday to remote areas while other teams were being sent by road on Sunday.
Choppers of the Indian Air Force and the BSF were pressed into service for the purpose, he said.
A total of 650 companies (roughly around 65,000 security personnel), including of paramilitary forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and other state forces, have been sent by the Centre for poll duty, he said.
These units are apart from the paramilitary personnel and 200 companies of state forces already engaged in the anti- Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, Awasthi said.
He said there are inputs of Naxals planning to plant IEDs to target security men. “Therefore, a hawk eye was being kept on roads in such areas,” the official said.
Awasthi said forces that have arrived from other states have been advised to avoid using any road unless it has been sanitised by “road opening parties” (ROPs) or subjected to a de-mining exercise to detect and clear IEDs.
Security men have also been asked to avoid patrolling on foot as Naxals are known to place iron spikes to inflict injuries, he said.
They have also been asked to maintain extra caution and sanitise polling booths and other premises in sensitive areas, he said.
In the last 10 days, over 300 IEDs were recovered from the Bastar region and Rajnandgaon district by security forces, he added.
Another state police official said as many as 198 polling booths have been relocated in the eight districts going to polls, in view of the Maoist threat and convenience of locals.
The highest number of 76 polling booths were shifted in Bijapur, followed by Sukma-40, Kanker-25, Dantewada-21, Narayanpur-18, Rajnandgaon-12, Kondagaon-four and Bastar- two, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Drones have been deployed in sensitive areas to track the movements of Naxals as they might target polling personnel on way to the booths, he said.
Police have been asked to maintain a strict vigil on the borders with Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Due to the Naxal threat, polling in 10 constituencies – Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta – will start at 7 am and end at 3 pm.
In the other eight seats Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot the polling time will be 8 am to 5 pm.
On November 8, four civilians and a CISF jawan were killed when Naxals detonated a bus with an IED in Dantewada district.
Before that on October 30, three police personnel and a cameraman of national broadcaster Doordarshan were killed in a Maoist attack in Aranpur area of Dantewada.
On October 27, four CRPF personnel were killed and two others injured after Maoists blew up their bullet proof bunker vehicle with an IED in Bijapur district.
Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.
Chhattisgarh polls are again about its Chief Minister Raman Singh who for 15 years has dominated the state’s scene. It is also about Singh’s ‘frenemy’ leader Ajit Jogi and his never-ending battles with the Congress.
This time Jogi has formed a ‘third front’ by joining hands with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, which could be a big stumbling block for the Congress’ bid to unseat Singh’s government. Jogi asserts he is fighting to end the BJP’s rule but his detractors think that he is again bailing out Singh.
Nevertheless, a rejuvenated Congress under Rahul Gandhi hopes to cash in on what it sees as a strong anti-incumbency mood among the electorate. It thinks Jogi and his Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) are on the decline because their role is seen as spoilers preventing change.
A third factor that remains in the background, particularly in certain hill areas, is the role of Maoists whose waning influence is punctuated by intermittent deadly attacks. The Maoists are not just against the elections. They have put up posters, directly threatening people against voting for the BJP.
Chhattisgarh has an assembly of 91 seats. It goes to poll on November 12 when the first phase of voting will take place for 18 seats, 12 of which are located in the Naxalite-hit Bastar region and Rajnandgaon. The second phase, which will cover the remaining seats, will take place on November 20.
Singh admits that it is not easy for him and the BJP. However, he feels that the people will still vote for his leadership and party because they have seen changes under his tenure. He sees disarray in the Congress camp though he won’t treat Jogi’s threat to play the kingmaker lightly.
Jogi is not contesting the elections himself, preferring to campaign for his third front. Earlier, he had announced that he would contest against Singh in the latter’s home constituency of Rajnandgaon. Later he backed out.
In the 2013 polls, the vote share between the BJP and the Congress was less than 1 percent. While the BJP got 41.04 percent of the total votes, the Congress polled 40.29 percent, but could only secure 39 assembly seats. The BJP got 49 seats and one each was won by the BSP and an independent.
The narrow margin of victory five years ago has made the Congress more hopeful of breaking the BJP’s winning streak this time.
Jogi thinks that his alliance partner, the BSP, can eat into the votes of the BJP as well as the Congress in some pockets to give his front a decent number of seats for a key role in the post-poll scenario if the December 11 results present a hung house.
Interestingly, Singh, unlike the Congress, is not treating the Jogi-Mayawati alliance as a non-starter. “The BSP has a 4-5 percent votes and Jogi has 2-3 percent votes. If they add up to 5 or 6 percent votes, there will be impact on around 30 constituencies,” he said in a recent interview to a media house.
The Congress is focusing sharply on the distress of farmers, claiming that days of Singh’s magic as ‘Chawal Baba’ (the miracle maker who ensured rice to poor under a successful Public Distribution System) are over. The Congress also harps on what it calls the lack of development under the BJP, denouncing the latter’s claim of vikas as all hype and no substance.
However, dismissing the talk of tremendous voter fatigue working against him, Singh has held that “the anti-incumbency that is talked about now was said in 2013 as well. But people think that change has taken place in 15 years — a new Chhattisgarh is being built…”
All the parties concede that Singh’s achievements cannot be dismissed as mere claims because the state has made considerable progress though some social indicators are still on the lower side.
Many leaders believe the key to retaining or capturing power in Raipur depends largely on who wins in the Bastar division, which also goes by the Maoists’ description as the Red Zone.
In the 2013 polls, the BJP won the elections but lost its hold in the region even as the Congress gained an upper hand. Of the 12 seats in the region, the Congress grabbed eight seats while the BJP mustered the remaining four seats. The saving grace for the BJP was that it won in other regions.
Since then, Singh’s government has undertaken a lot of development work in Bastar. In his pre-election interviews, the CM has asserted that “there are some patches where they (Maoists) have influence, but the people of Bastar are with the government on the path of peace and development. The development work in Bastar is because of people’s faith (in administration). We have laid roads in Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur, (where earlier) people could not dream of it. Big interstate bridges have been built on Andhra Pradesh and Odisha border. This has changed the economy of the area. (There have been) medical colleges and irrigation… I believe the people are with us”.
That brings us to the next question: will Raman Singh remain merely a leader of Chhattisgarh?
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, Singh’s name was among those who were thought to have been sounded out for eventually shifting to the Centre. Perhaps, once the Chhattisgarh polls are over, Singh may move away from the state politics — as the BJP needs to harness new faces and younger lot of leaders for its future in the state. This shift might happen after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
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