Key players and constituencies to look for in Chhattisgarh assembly polls

As the Congress is jostling to remain in power in Chhattisgarh, the main Opposition – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – is also trying to regain control of the state it governed for 15 years, from 2003 to 2018, with both parties fielding their prominent leaders with a strong mass base.

In the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly, voting for 20 seats in the state’s south will begin on Tuesday.
The remaining 70 seats will undergo polling on November 17 in the second phase.
There are several constituencies that hold strong significance in the state’s politics.
The 20 seats that will be contested on November 7 are Pandariya, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta.

The fight is mainly between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections and both sides have released their final list of candidates for the 90 seats.
Prominent candidates in the fray include Raman Singh (BJP), Bhawna Bohra (BJP), Lata Usendi (BJP), Gautam Uike (BJP), Mohammad Akbar (Congress), Savitri Manoj Mandavi (Congress), Mohan Markam (Congress), Vikram Mandavi (Congress), and Kawasi Lakhma (Congress).
BJP has fielded former Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh from the Patan assembly constituency, where he will be contesting against Congress’ Girish Dewangan.

Another key player from the BJP in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly polls is Bhawna Bohra, who will be contesting from the Pandariya seat against Congress’ Neelu Chandravanshi. Bhawna Bohra is known for her social work efforts and is popularly referred to as ‘Ambulance Wali Didi’. She has a strong background in both social service and politics, with active involvement in the Kavardha and Bemetra districts.

Congress leader Mohammad Akbar is also one of the key players, as he is the only Muslim candidate in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections. He will be contesting from the Kawardha assembly constituency, where he contested for the first time in 2018 and emerged victorious against the BJP’s Ashok Sahu, despite the seat having a significant population of Sahus.

Savitri Manoj Mandavi is another important leader representing the Congress in the Bhanupratappur constituency, where she is challenging the BJP’s Gautam Uike. Savitri Manoj Mandavi is the widow of the late Congress MLA Manoj Mandavi, who won the seat in 2018. Following her husband’s demise, she took on the role of an MLA and emerged victorious in the 2022 Bhanupratappur bye-elections.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has retained Kawasi Lakhma as its candidate from Konta, who is also the incumbent MLA from the constituency. The BJP has fielded Soyam Muka from Konta.
Kondagaon constituency is presently represented by former state Congress chief Mohan Markam, who defeated the BJP’s tribal woman leader and former minister Lata Usendi in both the 2013 and 2018 elections.They are now gearing up for their third contest in this constituency.

Of the 20 seats which are set to undergo polling in the first phase on November 7, Congress emerged victorious on 17 seats in the 2018 Chhattisgarh assembly elections, while the BJP had won only two of these 20 seats and one seat was won by the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC).