RAIPUR: “Save the Date” -- the message by the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on his Twitter handle -- apparently refers to an unusual pledge as he attempts to gain the trust of voters ahead of the Khairagarh Assembly bypoll. The CM has promised a new district provided the constituency elects a Congress candidate as their legislator on April 12, the day of polling.
“On April 16, 2022 Khairagarh will get Congress MLA. On April 17 Khairagarh-Chuikhadan-Gandai will become a (new) district,” Baghel tweeted. The counting of votes will take place on April 16
The promise on creating a new district is among the 29 other pledges the Congress has cited in its “Ghoshna Patra” (party’s poll declaration).
The opposition BJP has accused the CM of trying to strike a “deal” with voters. “Why the creation of a new district conditional on result? So, if the Congress loses, then Khairagarh will not become a district? Bhupesh Baghel should announce now to make every Assembly constituency in the state as a district ahead of next year's Vidhan Sabha elections,” quipped Vishnu Deo Sai, state BJP president.
"The decision is the appreciation of the people's aspirations," the CM countered while addressing a rally.
Khairagarh seat in Rajnandgaon district fell vacant following the demise of the sitting JCC (J) MLA Devvrat Singh, scion of the erstwhile royal family of Khairagarh, in November last year. The regional political outfit JCC (J) was floated by late ex-CM Ajit Jogi in 2016.
The JCC (J) faces a huge challenge to retain the seat which is set to witness a bipolar contest between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.
The poll battle in Khairagarh is seen as a proxy contest of Chhattisgarh’s two top leaders CM Baghel and former CM Raman Singh.
Baghel is leading the Congress campaign in Khairagarh area of Rajnandgaon district, which is cited as the stronghold of Raman Singh.
Congress leaders and workers while eulogising the development claimed by the Baghel government are also propagating the party’s promise on creation of a new district.
The Congress has fielded OBC woman Yoshoda Verma, the party’s Khairagarh block committee chief. The BJP candidate Komal Jangle, who is also the national working committee member of OBC Morcha, had earlier won the seat twice but lost the 2018 Assembly election by a margin of 870 votes.