AAP releases second list of 12 candidates for Chhattisgarh assembly polls

Raipur: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday released its second list of 12 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Chhattisgarh.

The party's state unit treasurer, Jasbir Singh, and Raipur corporator Tarun Vaidh figure in the list posted by the AAP in social media platform X.

Also read: AAP decides to help Congress by withdrawing from electoral battle in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan

With this, the party has now released the names of 22 candidates in the Congress-ruled state, which has a 90-member assembly and where polls are due by the year-end.

“Major Announcement! Our second list of candidates for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections is out. All the best to all candidates. Is baar chalegi Jhadu (this time broom will sweep). #ChhattisgarhMangeKejriwal”, the party wrote on X.

Of these 12 seats, four are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates and two for Scheduled Caste nominees.

The AAP had tried its luck for the first time in the 2018 assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and fielded candidates in 85 of the total 90 seats, but failed to open its account in the state.

The party had last month announced the first list of ten candidates.

Jasbir Singh, the party's state unit treasurer, and corporator Vaidh have been fielded from Bilha and Raipur Gramin seats, respectively, said Anupam Singh, who handles the AAP's media affairs in the state.

The other candidates in the list are Raja Ram Shyam (Pratappur-ST), Dev Prasad Koshle (Sarangarh-SC), Vijay Jaiswal (Kharsia), Pankaj Maes (Kota), Dr Ujjawala Karade (Bilaspur), Dharam Das Bhargav (Masturi-SC), Nandan Singh (Raipur west), Sant Ram Salamm (Antagarh-ST), Jugalkishor Bodh (Keshkal-ST) and Bomada Ram Mandavi (Chitrakot-ST).

Chhattisgarh, which has always seen a bipolar politics dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, saw the entry of a third front in the 2018 polls when former chief minister late Ajit Jogi's Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested as a part of an alliance and bagged seven seats.

The Congress had registered a landslide victory in the 2018 polls winning 68 seats and comfortably formed the government. The BJP was reduced to 15 seats, while the JCC (J) and the BSP bagged 5 and 2 seats, respectively. The current strength of the Congress is 71.

This time the AAP is eyeing to make inroads in the state as the JCC (J) has been virtually pushed to margins after the death of Ajit Jogi in 2020.

In July, the opposition BJP had released its first list of 21 candidates, while the ruling Congress is yet to announce its nominees.