AAP releases fourth list of 12 candidates for Chhattisgarh assembly polls

PTI, Oct 23, 2023, 11:49 AM IST

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released its fourth list of 12 candidates for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections scheduled next month.

With this, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has so far released the names of 45 candidates for polls in the Congress-ruled state.

Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.

“Announcement. Fourth list of candidates for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections is here. All the best to all candidates. Is baar chalegi jhadu (this time broom will sweep). #ChhattisgarhMangeKejriwal,” the AAP said on X on Sunday night while posting the list.

Out of these 12 seats, six are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates and one is for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

The AAP tried its luck for the first time in the 2018 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and fielded candidates in 85 out of the total 90 seats, but failed to open its account in the state.

The candidates announced in the fourth list are – Dev Ganesh Tekam (Samri-ST), Alexander (Lundra-ST), Munna Toppo (Sitapur-ST), Prakash Toppo (Jashpur-ST), Gopal Bapudia (Raigarh), Sobram Singh Saima (Pali-Tanakhar -ST), Parmeshwar Prasad Sandey (Janjgir-Champa), Neelam Dhruv (Khallari), Santosh Yadu (Baloda Bazar), Vijay Gurubaxani (Raipur North), Parmanand Jangde (Arang-SC) and Bhagirathi Manjhi (Bindranawagarh-ST).

Chhattisgarh, which has always witnessed a bipolar politics dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, saw the entry of a third front in the 2018 polls when former chief minister late Ajit Jogi’s Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested as part of an alliance and bagged seven seats.

The Congress registered a landslide victory in the 2018 polls by bagging 68 seats and comfortably formed government. The BJP was reduced to 15 seats, while the JCC (J) and the BSP bagged 5 and 2 seats, respectively. The current strength of the Congress in the state assembly is 71.

This time, the AAP is eyeing to make inroads in the state as the JCC (J) has been virtually pushed to the margins after the death of Ajit Jogi in 2020.

The BSP will contest the elections in alliance with the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP).

The ruling Congress has announced candidates for all 90 seats, while the opposition BJP has declared its candidates for 86 seats.