RAIPUR: For the first time in 20 years, the Marwahi constituency in Chhattisgarh will now witness an electoral battle without any member of Ajit Jogi’s family in the fray.
On Saturday, the returning officer had cancelled the nomination of Jogi’s son Amit and his wife Richa during the scrutiny of papers after a high-powered committee, probing his caste status, in its order dated October 15 rejected Jogi’s claim of being a member of Kanwar tribe.
The bypoll in reserved ST constituency of Marwahi was necessitated after the death of Jogi Senior. With Amit Jogi and his Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi) out of the race, the seat is set to witness a bipolar contest between the Congress and the BJP.
Ever since Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000, Marwahi had remained the Jogi family’s bastion.
Ajit Jogi, the first chief minister of the state, won the seat four times while his son Amit represented it once in 2013.
In August 2019, the high-powered committee had rejected the claim of Ajit Jogi as belonging to a ‘tribal’ community.
He challenged the order in the high court.
However, on the basis of the findings of the committee, Jogi’s petition was dismissed.
Amit lashed out at the Bhupesh Bahgel government alleging a political conspiracy against him and his family. The government dismissed the charges as ridiculous.