Congress fields Jogi's wife to contest Kota by poll

Raipur, Nov 17 (UNI) Opposition Congress has fielded Mrs Renu Jogi, wife of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, to contest the by elections for Kota assembly seat in the state.

Accompanied by the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) President Charan Das Mahant and several party legislators, Mrs Jogi filed her nomination papers before the returning officer at Bilaspur today to contest the by-election scheduled for December four.

Mrs Jogi, who was a lecturer in Ophthalmology at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College in the state capital, had quit her government job after Mr Jogi sustained serious injuries in a road accident during the Lok Sabha elections nearly two-and-half years ago.

Earlier, speculations were rife that the Congress might field Mr Sunil Shukla, son of Congress veteran and former speaker Rajendra Prasad Shukla, whose death had necessitated the by-election in Kota assembly constituency in Bilaspur district.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP has fielded Mr Bhupendra Singh Thakur, who had unsuccessfully contested from the same constituency during the December 2003 assembly elections.

Mr Thakur also filed his nomination papers today at Bilaspur.

Ministers in the Raman Singh Government and a large number of party workers were present on the occasion.

This rural constituency is expected to witness a high-pitch electioneering with Mrs Jogi's presence in the fray and the ruling BJP gearing up to mobilise its party workers to wrest the seat, which has been a traditional stronghold of the Congress.

Congress had retained the Kota seat in all the elections held since 1952 in undivided Madhya Pradesh. In Chhattisgarh's maiden assembly elections held in December 2003, veteran Congress leader Rajendra Prasad Shukla had retained the seat for his party.

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