Assembly polls: Chhattisgarh braces for close call

RAIPUR: Gearing up for the countdown in Chhattisgarh, the ruling BJP and the main opposition, Congress, are neck-and-neck in 51 seats going to polls in the second and final phase of the assembly elections in eight districts of the state on Thursday.
While BJP and Bahujan Samaj Party are contesting all 51 seats, Congress has fielded 48 candidates leaving three seats ��� Chandrapur, Samri and Manendragarh ��� for its alliance partner, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).In 2003, under V C Shukla, NCP had significantly damaged the Congress, taking away 7.02% of popular votes.
Congress candidates are relieved that they aren't facing the Shukla effect this time. For, V C Shukla is back in Congress campaigning for the party.
But they will nevertheless have to reckon with BSP which could do to Congress what VC did in 2003. BSP has a presence in all the 51 constituencies going to polls and it is pursuing its agenda under the rubric of 'Sarvajana hitaye' (all communities must benefit). It worked for it in UP, and is expected to net both BJP and Congress votes on Chhattisgarh plains.
Congress and BJP also face rebellion in a number of seats. In 2003, BJP and Congress were close in the 51 seats going to polls on Thursday ��� the equation then read: 19 Congress; 18 BJP; and, one each for Nationalist Congress Party and BSP and two independents.
Twelve seats have been carved out post-delimitation. Tribal-dominated Surguja has nine out of 12 ST reserved seats and is being watched with keen interest because the ruling BJP represents six of these. Although there is no direct fight between political stalwarts here, analysts say that the contest has narrowed down between Raman Singh and Ajit Jogi with both leading aggressive campaigns in support of their candidates.
Campaigning in this phase has been low-key in absence of a burning issue like Maoist violence. On the eve of the elections of the final phase, Raman Singh claimed that his party would retain power by winning more seats than it did the last time.
Congress working president Satyanarayan Sharma predictably rubbished this saying the anti-incumbency wave will blow the BJP aside and give his party a comfortable majority. Of the big battles in Raipur, Brijmohan Agarwal (BJP) will fight against Yogesh Tiwari (Congress) from Raipur (South); Rajesh Mudat (BJP) versus Santosh Agarwal (Congress) in Raipur (West); and Satyendra Sharma (Congress) pitted against Nandlal Sharma (BJP) at Raipur Rural.
Other parties in the running are Shiv Sena (32 seats), Gondwana Gantantra Party (35), Lok Janshakti Party (17), Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party (19), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (14), CPI (18) and RPI (10). Also being watched with keen interest is the outcome in Ambikapur where the scion of the erstwhile ruling family T K Singh Deo ��� the clan is an old
Congress loyalist ��� takes on BJP's first-timer Anurag Singh Deo. 53 candidates in the fray have criminal cases pending against them. Of these, eight are from BSP and seven each from Congress and BJP.
The voters ��� mostly rural based ��� here are torn between loyalty to the Raja Sahab as TK is known, and BJP which has provided them with Rs 3 per kilo rice.