The ruling Congress declared its first list of 30 candidates for the Chhattisgarh Assembly election on October 15. All ten Ministers — as well as Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his deputy T.S. Singh Deo, and Assembly speaker Charan Das Mahant — have been retained, while eight sitting MLAs have been dropped.
Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) president Deepak Baij, currently the Lok Sabha MP from Bastar, will now be fielded in the Chitrakot Assembly seat. He had won the seat in the 2018 State election, but then vacated it a year later after winning the parliamentary seat. Former CPCC chief Mohan Markam has also retained his seat of Kondagaon in the tribal belt of Bastar that goes to polls in the first phase on November 7.
The decision to retain all Cabinet Ministers despite adverse reports against a couple of them is an attempt to show that that this list has Mr. Baghel’s imprint and contain any major rebellion, party sources said. Despite this, at least one Minister, Guru Rudra Kumar, will have his constituency changed.
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