Chhattisgarh Assembly elections: Congress releases first list of 12 candidates

Raipur, Oct 18: The Congress today released its first list of 12 candidates for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections.

AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, in a statement, announced the candidates for seats in southern Chhattisgarh, which is infested by Naxals.

Among the candidates fielded by the party are Devati Karma from Dantewada-ST seat, Lakheshwar Baghel from Bastar-ST seat and Shishu Pal Sori from Kanker-ST. The party also decided that its leader Rekhchand Jain will contest from Jagdalpur assembly seat. These seats are highly sensitive and affected by Naxal violence.

Chhattisgarh will go to polls in two phases- November 12 and 20, respectively. Counting of votes will be done on December 11.

The nominations can be filed till October 23, and the scrutiny of the relevant submitted papers will be on October 24. The candidates can withdraw their names by October 26.

While the regional outfit of former chief minister Ajit Jogi, who has entered into a pre-poll alliance with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have already declared their candidates, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are yet to announce their contestants.

On Wednesday, the Congress released its list of star campaigners for the first phase of Chhattisgarh polls which included Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi Manmohan Singh, cricketer-turned-politicians Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin.