The Hindu : Front Page : It will be neck and neck in Chhattisgarh phase II poll

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Saturday, Nov 15, 2008
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It will be neck and neck in Chhattisgarh phase II poll

Aarti Dhar

Congress, BJP locked in tough contest in 51 constituencies; elections on November 20

The former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and his wife are contesting from Marwahi and Kota
Yudhvir Singh Judeo, son of Rajya Sabha member Dilip Singh Judeo, is in the fray in Chandrapur

RAIPUR: With polling for the first phase of elections in Chhattisgarh over, the focus has now shifted to the remaining 51 Assembly constituencies, north of the State capital.

It will be a neck and neck contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Of these 51 seats, the Congress and the BJP won 24 seats each last time, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) one.

Traditional seats

The Congress has some traditional seats here and the BSP, too, has a strong presence. It won the Sarangarh seat in the previous Assembly elections.

The former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and his wife Renu Jogi are contesting from Marwahi and Kota. Both constituencies are in Bilaspur district and they are likely to influence voters in the remaining eight Assembly segments there.

Last time the Congress won six seats and the BJP three.Apart from several State Ministers, Yudhvir Singh Judeo, son of Rajya Sabha member Dilip Singh Judeo, is contesting from Chandrapur in Janjgir Champa district, which has six Assembly segments.

This seat was won by the Nationalist Congress Party last time.

Both seats in Koria went to the Congress last time; now it has three seats after delimitation.

But with Ramchander Singh Deo, veteran Congress leader and many times Minister in the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh and also in Chhattisgarh, refusing to contest, the Congress could face some setbacks here.

The BJP continues to be in a strong position in all the three constituencies in Jashpur.

Independent factor

Sitapur, one of the eight constituencies in Surguja district, will see a triangular contest among the BJP, the Congress and a Congress rebel, Prof Gopal Ram, fighting as independent.

He won this seat as an independent in the 1998 elections but joined the Congress later. This time he was denied ticket. Last time, the BJP won seven seats in Surguja, and Sitapur went to the Congress.

In Raipur district, the fight between the Congress and the BJP is tough. Of the 13 seats there, eight were with the Congress and five with the BJP.

The second phase of polling is scheduled for November 20.

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