The Rahul Gandhi-led Congress has announced its first list of 12 candidates in Chhattisgarh.
The Congress party has released its first list of candidates for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, repeating seven out of eight of its sitting legislators. This evening, the party declared candidates for 12 out of 18 seats that will vote in the first phase of polling on November 12.
The first phase of polling covers 18 seats spread across eight Maoist insurgency-affected districts - Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon.
Eleven out of the 12 candidates declared by the Congress are in seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes. In the 2013 assembly elections, the Congress had won eight out of these seats. Among these, it has nominated seven of its sitting legislators except in Kanker where it has replaced Shanker Dhruwa with Shishu Pal Sori.
In Maoist-affected Dantewada, it has fielded sitting legislator Devati Karma, wife of Congress leader Mahendra Karma. The founder of anti-Maoist civil militia Salwa Judum, Mahendra Karma was killed by Maoists in the Jeeram Ghati massacre in 2013. Kawasi Lakhma, who survived the massacre, has been fielded from Konta.
Here's Congress' first list for phase one of the Chhattisgarh elections:
Antagarh ST: Anoop Nag
Bhanupratappur ST Manoj Singh Mandavi
Kanker ST: Shishu Pal Sori
Keshkal ST Santram Netam
Kondagaon ST Mohan Lal Markam
Narayanpur ST Chandan Kashyap
Bastar ST: Lakheshwar Baghel
Jagdalpur Rekhchand Jain
Chitrakot ST Deepak Kumar Baij
Dantewada ST Devati Karma
Bijapur ST Vikram Shah Mandavi
Konta ST Kawasi Lakhma
The second phase of polling in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 20 in the remaining 72 seats. The results will be declared on December 11 along with the other election-bound states Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Telangana.