Spotlight on Jogis in Marwahi, Kota seats in Chhattisgarh

Marwahi, Nov 18 (UNI) The spotlight is on bureaucrat-turned political Congress Chief Ministerial candidate Ajit Jogi and his doctor wife Renu who are contesting the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections from Marwahi (ST) and adjoining Kota seats.

Congress star campaigner Mr Jogi was contesting from Marwahi(ST) seat third time even though the controversy over his scheduled tribe affliation was yet to be resolved by the court while Renu, who entered politics in 2006, is seeking to regain the adjoining Kota seat in Bilaspur district, for the second time.

The couple are very popular in the region but the people particularly the Congress workers, who were associated with the Jogi family, were annoyed with the former CM for contesting the Lok Sabha election from Mahasamund seat.

Though everyone in both the constituencies were sure that BJP was contesting 88 seats leaving Marwahi and Kota for the Congress, but still the inner party dispute would certainly have an impact on the winning margin of the couple.

Both the constituencies dominated by 70 per cent tribal electorate belonging to Gond, Bhayaria and Dhanwari communities had faced a severe drought situation this year.

Jogi who is paralysed below the waist after a car accident in 2004 has high morale and was addressing about eight election meetings daily statewide while his wife, an ophthamologist by profession, left the government job and joined politics in 2006. The ex-CM had joined politics in 1986 leaving the Indian Adminstrative Services (IAS) to become the Congress Rajya Sabha member for two terms till 1998. Later he won the Lok Sabha seat of Raigarh in 1998 and became the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh in 2000.

Mr Jogi, who during filing of his nominations from the seat had announced that he would not be available for electioneering in his constituency, but had now decided to camp in Kota and Marwahi in the last leg of the campaigning just to ensure a comfortable win.

BJP candidate Dhyan Singh Porte was also trying to give a fight to the Congress candidate Jogi in Marwahi, but in Kota BJP nominee Mool Chand Khandelwal was neck to neck in the campaigning against Ms Renu.

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