Raipur: Stakes are high for former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and veteran leader and eight-time MLA Brij Mohan Agrawal in the November 13 Assembly elections in Raipur (South) seat in Chhattisgarh with both the leaders striving hard to make a comeback to the Centre stage of their respective parties, Congress and BJP.
While Mr Baghel, whose stock in the party seems to have depleted following the debacle of Congress in Chhattisgarh in the November 2023 Assembly polls, is out to re-establish his supremacy in state party by winning the by-elections, Mr Agrawal is facing the test of his political legacy in the by-poll in his home constituency.
Mr Baghel has been able to get ticket for his loyalist and youth Congress leader Akash Sharma in the by-elections to the Assembly seat and unite all the senior Congress leaders in the party including former deputy chief minister T S Singh Deo to launch a campaign blitzkrieg for the party candidate in the by-polls.
“All the senior Congress leaders have launched a door-to-door campaign to canvas for the party candidate”, a Congress spokesman said here on Friday.
Sources said that the Congress has decided to field Mr Sharma, considered a staunch loyalist of Mr Baghel, in the by-elections to woo Brahmin votes which constitute around 40,000 in the constituency since BJP has fielded an OBC candidate, Sunil Soni.
The Congress is also eyeing the Muslim votes which constitute around 12,000 and Dalits who comprise around 18,000 in the Assembly constituency, a senior Congress functionary said.
“Mr Baghel is steering the campaign for the party in the by-elections”, he added.
Sources said that Mr Baghel’s camp felt that Mr Baij, being a tribal leader, saw an opportunity to project him as a chief ministerial prospect in the 2028 Assembly polls following defeat of the party under Mr Baghel’s leadership in the last Assembly elections in the state.
"By ensuring victory of the party candidate in the by-elections, Mr Baghel will be able to re-establish his supremacy in the state party”, sources said.
Mr Agrawal who represented Raipur (South) eight times in the Assembly before being elected to Lok Sabha in the recent polls is keen to retain the seat for the party to prove his mettle before the party leadership, sources said.
The former minister was said to be unwilling to leave Chhattisgarh politics. But he was asked to contest from Raipur Lok Sabha seat in the last polls which he had won with a record margin of votes.
Sources said that Mr Agrawal viewed the by-election in his home constituency as a test of his political legacy and hence, he had secured a party ticket for his ‘protégé’ Mr Soni to ensure his victory in the by-polls.
The ruling BJP has a strength of 53 in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, while Congress has strength of 35.
