Saroj Pandey she asserted that BJP will return to power for a fourth straight term in the state. (File)
BJP leader Saroj Pandey today claimed that the alliance between Ajit Jogi's party and the BSP will hurt the Congress more in Chhattisgarh, as she asserted that her party will return to power for a fourth straight term in the state.
Ms Pandey, a Rajya Sabha member and key party leader from the state, also said that the Congress is on the back foot due to the alleged involvement of its state president Bhupesh Baghel in a fake sex CD case.
The CBI had last month filed a charge sheet in the case naming Baghel and some others as accused in the case related to the controversial CD allegedly featuring a state minister, who had rejected it as fake. He was released on bail after spending three days in judicial custody last month.
The BJP has used the issue to target the Congress, while Baghel has claimed innocence and termed it as a political attack.
The state party president should have decided what is in the interest of a state and what is not before putting out such content, Ms Pandey said, dismissing his claim that he was not aware of its authenticity.
"We are in a very strong position in Chhattisgarh. We will form the government for a fourth straight term," she said, adding that the BJP will achieve its president Amit Shah's target of winning 65 plus seats in the 90-member assembly.
The state will go to the polls in two phases on November 12 and 20.
Though Chhattisgarh has always seen a straight fight between the two national parties, the emergence of former chief minister Ajit Jogi-led Janta Congress Chhattisgarh has made things tricky in a state, where the difference in vote share between the BJP and the Congress was less than one per cent in 2013.
Mr Jogi, who was earlier in the Congress, has struck an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party, which enjoys influence in some parts of the state.
Asked about the possible impact of the alliance, Ms Pandey said influence of any party cannot be discounted in electoral politics, but added that Mr Jogi will definitely draw votes from the party he was associated with, a reference to Congress.
Overall, the alliance will not be able to make much impact, she said.