Raipur:

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday filed nomination from his traditional seat Patan in Durg district for the assembly polls scheduled next month and expressed confidence that the Congress will retain power in the state.

The 62-year-old CM posted pictures on his X handle of filing the nomination papers at Durg collectorate.

Chhattisgarh assembly speaker Charan Das Mahant and state Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu were seen accompanying him while filing the nomination.

“Name- Bhupesh Baghel. Assembly Constituency- Patan. With the blessings of Chhattisgarh Mahtari (mother Chhattisgarh), today I have filed nomination as a candidate again from Patan assembly constituency. #fir_se_layenge_Congress (will bring Congress again),” the CM said on X.

नाम- भूपेश बघेल
विधानसभा क्षेत्र- पाटन

छत्तीसगढ़ महतारी के आशीर्वाद से आज पुनः पाटन विधानसभा क्षेत्र से प्रत्याशी के रूप में नामांकन दाखिल किया है. #फिर_से_कांग्रेस_लाएंगेpic.twitter.com/PwsnBDr2ku

— Bhupesh Baghel (@bhupeshbaghel) October 30, 2023

Before going for filing the nomination, Mr Baghel shared his pictures on social media in which his wife is seen applying ’tilak’ on his forehead at their residence in Bhilai.

“I always remember the day when I went to file nomination for the first time. Today I have left from my Bhilai residence to file nomination as a candidate from Patan. My wife Mukteshwari applied tilak like every time. Your love is my strength. For the self-respect of Chhattisgarhiya, I promise to always remain dedicated in serving you all,” the CM said in his social media post.

Patan, a rural constituency, share border with the state capital Raipur.

Mr Baghel has been elected five times from the seat – in 1993, 1998, 2003, 2013 and 2018.

In 2008, he lost the assembly poll to BJP’s Vijay Baghel, who is also his nephew.

The opposition BJP in the state has fielded Vijay Baghel, who is currently the Lok Sabha member from Durg, in this assembly seat. The CM and the BJP candidate belong to Kurmi – an influential OBC community in the state, which has a sizable population in the constituency. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Raipur:

BJP president JP Nadda on Sunday accused the Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh of indulging in “corruption” and said the Congress-led dispensation does not have the right to remain in power in the state.

The 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 7 and 17.

Mr Nadda was addressing the ‘Booth Vijya Sankalp Abhiyan’ programme in Amlidih area under Raipur Rural constituency after listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme there.

He asked the BJP workers to visit every single house under their respective poll booths and encourage people to cast vote in next month’s state elections.

“We have been watching Bhupesh Baghel’s corrupt, incompetent, unbelievable and unimaginable government. I say unbelievable because have you ever seen the secretary of a CM lodged in jail for years. What evidence does one need when corruption is written on the forehead,” Mr Nadda said and asked people whether such a “corrupt” government should remain in power.

Notably, Saumya Chaurasia, a state cadre officer who was posted as deputy secretary in Chief Minister’s Office, was arrested in December last year by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged coal levy scam.

“This (Congress) government cheated youth or not? Did the women get Rs 500 (each month)? A liquor scam happened or not? Bhupesh Baghel had promised to ban liquor. Instead of banning it, he committed a scam. He committed a scam in recruitment (for government jobs) and he did not even spare cow and cow dung,” Mr Nadda claimed.

Such a “corrupt” government does not have the right to remain in power, he added.

Mr Nadda asked his party workers to reach out to voters under their respective poll booths.

“You all should request people that they must cast their vote and you have to motivate them for it. Whether they vote in your favour or not, but to strengthen the democracy, you all should urge them to vote,” he said.

Polling will be held in 20 assembly seats of the state in the first phase on November 7.

Raipur Rural constituency is among the 70 seats which will go to polls in the second phase on November 17.

After addressing the BJP workers here, Nadda left for Dongargarh assembly constituency in Rajnandgaon district to address a public meeting.

He is later also scheduled to hold road rallies in Khairagarh, Chhuikhadan and Gandai towns before addressing another public meeting in Pandariya constituency.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kanker, Chhattisgarh:

A 93-year-old man in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh will exercise his voting right for the first time in his life during the assembly elections scheduled this year.

The name of the nonagenarian has been added to the voters’ list during a door-to-door campaign launched in the district under the leadership of District Collector Priyanka Shukla.

Sher Singh Hedko (93), a resident of village Bhainsakanhar (K) under Bhanupratappur assembly constituency, will vote for the first time during this assembly election. Even after the passing of several years, his name was not added to the list. Moreover, errors in documents could be a potential reason for it.

After his name was added to the voters’ list, the nonagenarian is excited to register his active participation in the democratic exercise and choose his representative, said Sher Hedko’s relatives citing him as he is unable to speak properly.

A voter awareness campaign is being carried out in the district and under this initiative, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are undertaking door-to-door campaigns to register names of eligible persons left out in the voters’ list.

As part of this initiative, BLO Rajendra Kosma, who went to enroll the name of Sher Singh’s grandchild, learned that the name of the nonagenarian is also not added to the list and he had not exercised his voting rights even once. Following this, Sher Singh’s formalities were completed.

“This is a remarkable achievement of our BLOs that they approached those, who were left out in the voters’ list for certain reasons, by visiting people at their doorsteps and ensuring the adding of their names. By acting proactively, the BLOs added names of people by helping them arrange required documents and during this exercise, the name of Sher Singh Hedko was also added,” Kanker District Collector Priyanka Shukla said.

Moreover, the names of several senior citizens in the Antagarh and Bhanupratappur blocks were also added this time, she said attributing the credit for this development to BLOs, EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) and the team of SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)