Bhupesh Baghel                               Amit Jogi

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marwahi by-poll, which is likely to be held in the month of November this year, will be a litmus test for the ruling Congress party and Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi). Marwahi assembly seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), got vacated after the death of sitting Marwahi MLA and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, who passed away on May 29. After becoming the first Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh in 2000, Ajit Jogi had won from Marwahi in the by-poll held in 2001 on the seat vacated by the then BJP MLA Ramdayal Uikey for Ajit Jogi. Since then, Marwahi Assembly seat has been held by Jogi’s family. Ajit Jogi had won Marwahi Assembly seat on Congress ticket in 2003 and 2008, and he won Marwahi seat on JCC(Jogi) ticket in 2018. Amit Jogi had won Marwahi seat in 2013. Marwahi Assembly constituency saw five elections since the formation of Chhattisgarh, and Ajit Jogi or his son Amit Jogi had won Marwahi seat every time.

 

All the three major political parties - the ruling Congress party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and JCC(Jogi) are gearing up for Marwahi Assembly by-poll. Congress party has appointed Revenue Minister Jaisingh Agrawal and Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) Vice-President Atal Shrivastava as election in-charges for Marwahi by-poll. Besides, the CPCC has given the charge to three Congress leaders namely - Zila Panchayat President Arun Singh Chauhan, Pali-Tanakhar MLA Mohit Ram and Manendragarh MLA Dr Vinay Jaiswal to look at booth-level activities of the party for the Marwahi by-poll. BJP Chhattisgarh unit has appointed senior BJP leader and former Minister Amar Agrawal as the election in-charge for the Marwahi assembly by-poll. Meanwhile, JCC(Jogi) has appointed Lormi MLA Dharamjeet Singh as the election in-charge in Marwahi.

 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has asked the Congress party leaders to achieve the target of 70 by winning Marwahi assembly by-poll. The cabinet ministers and senior Congress leaders are continuously visiting Marwahi assembly elections and focusing to strengthen the party at booth-level. The Congress party is leaving no stone unturned to win the Marwahi by-poll. Politically, Bhupesh Baghel has always been on a divergent platform opposing the Jogi’s family and had expelled Amit Jogi from the Congress party in 2016 for anti-party activities when he was the CPCC President. For Bhupesh Baghel winning Marwahi by-poll is going to be prestigious. “If the Congress wins the Marwahi by-poll, Bhupesh Baghel will emerge as a much stronger leader before the party high command,” said political experts. JCC President Amit Jogi, who had won Marwahi seat on Congress ticket in 2013 by defeating BJP candidate Sameera Paikra with a margin of around 40,000 votes, is trying to encash on the sympathy for his father Ajit Jogi and his popularity in the forthcoming Marwahi assembly by-poll. Lormi MLA Dharamjeet Singh said that JCC (Jogi) President Amit Jogi would contest Marwahi by-poll on the party ticket. Dharamjit Singh claimed that the voters of Marwahi are still associated with the Jogi family and the JCC (Jogi) candidate winning Marwahi by-poll is a mere formality. In his statement, senior BJP leader Amar Agrawal claimed that the BJP would contest the Marwahi by-poll and make all efforts to win this seat. Speaking to The Hitavada, State Congress Spokesman Abhaynarayan Rai said that the Congress would contest Marwahi by-poll on development issue and Bhupesh Baghel government has fulfilled the long pending demands of Marwahi Assembly constituency by making Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi as a new district. The Congress government has approved development works worth crores of rupees for development of the new district. Chief Minister Baghel has dedicated and laid foundation stones of various development work worth 332 crores in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district through video conferencing on Friday, Rai added.

 

Jogi family would be contesting the upcoming Marwahi by-poll without Ajit Jogi so the election is going to be tough for the Jogi family. The ruling Congress has done a lot of development works like declaring Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi as a new district for a strong foothold of the Congress party to snatch the seat from the JCC (Jogi). Amit Jogi has a big challenge to keep the four JCC (Jogi) MLAs united and run the party smoothly because most of the JCC MLAs want to merge the party with the Congress. Amit Jogi is facing his caste issue and he has challenged the state government’s order regarding his caste category, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned in contending the legal battle before the High Court of Chhattisgarh. The JCC (Jogi) has suffered a major setback in Marwahi assembly constituency where a close aid of Ajit Jogi Gyanendra Upadhyay and several other JCC (Jogi) leaders joined the Congress.

 

Congress leaders Gulab Singh Raj, Ajit Shyam, Block Medical Officer Marwahi Dr K K Dhruw, retired judge Pramod Paraste, Zila Panchayat member Shubham Pendro are the probable contenders from the Congress party for the Marwahi assembly by-poll. In BJP Archana Porte, Ramdayal Uikey, Sameera Paikra, Shankar Kanwar are some of the contenders.

 

Marwahi assembly by-poll will witness a triangular fight among the ruling Congress, JCC(Jogi) and BJP this time. There are around 2 lakh voters in Marwahi assembly constituency.