Date:17/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/17/stories/2008111759531200.htm

National

Congress may find the going tough in this tribal belt

Aarti Dhar

AMBIKAPUR (CHHATTISGARH): A one-time Congress stronghold that the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested in the 2003 Assembly elections, the tribal belt of northern Chhattisgarh is once again posing a threat to the main Opposition party in the State.

With the reorganisation of the constituencies and its stalwart Ram Chander Singh Deo opting out of the race this time round, the Congress is in for a rough time, at least in Surguja district that has eight Assembly segments. The BJP won seven seats in the previous State elections while the Congress got one.

This time, voters in Ambikapur constituency are on the horns of a dilemma because of the presence of the high-profile Congress leader T.S. Singh Deo — the erstwhile king of this region, who is contesting against a first-timer Anurag Singh Deo. The people here want to vote for the BJP but not at the cost of their loyalty to the “raja sahib.”

Their reservation against the Congress is that it did nothing for the region while it was in power and the BJP did much in just five years.

Both the rival candidates got a chance to contest from here for the first time after the seat was de-reserved and fell in the general category. Every one thought it would be a walkover for T.S. Singh Deo but it does not appear to be so easy, for the BJP has made inroads into the region.

Adjoining Bhatgaon that was created following de-limitation, has the largest number of candidates — 29. Contesting this seat could be difficult for the BJP because of the presence of Vijay Pratap Singh, son of Rajya Sabha member Shiv Pratap Singh, contesting as an independent candidate from the area which his father represented for 20 years.

Sitapur could be another interesting seat to watch. Here, the contest is between the BJP’s Ganesh Ram Bhagat and an independent candidate Gopal Ram.

The Congress candidate is Amarjeet Bhagat. Prof. Gopal Ram had once saved Ajit Jogi’s government by supporting him in the Assembly on an issue of lack of quorum during the passage of a finance bill. He had been promised the Congress ticket but did not get it.

This time he is again contesting as an independent candidate and could hurt the Congress.

A rebel Congress candidate and a former State Minister Tuleshwer Singh is contesting on the Samajwadi Party ticket from Prem Nagar after the party announced Naresh Rajwade as its official candidate. This could benefit the sitting BJP MLA Renuka Singh.

In the adjacent Jashpur district, Dilip Singh Judeo’s magic continues to work and all three seats Jashpur, Kunkuri and Pathalgaon are likely to fall into the BJP’s kitty again.

In Koria district, the BJP is expected to gain in all three seats as the stalwart and “raja sahib” of this princely state Ram Chander Singh Deo refused to contest saying that he could not afford to distribute “liquor and sheep” (daru and bakra) in the election.

His withdrawal will certainly harm the party because the “royalty” had tremendous influence on the electorate.