Congress pins hopes on experienced leaders including Baghel for LS polls in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: The Congress in Chhattisgarh has pinned its hopes on experienced leaders for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as its first list of six candidates included former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, two former state ministers and a sitting MP.

The party released its first list of 39 candidates nationwide on Friday.

In Chhattisgarh, where it lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last year's assembly polls, the Congress announced candidates for six out of 11 Lok Sabha seats.

Four of them are from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and one belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.

Besides Baghel (Rajnandgaon seat), the Congress has fielded Vikas Upadhyay (Raipur), Tamradhwaj Sahu (Mahasamund), Shivkumar Dahariya (Janjgir-Champa), Jyotsana Mahant (Korba), and Rajendra Sahu (Durg).

Baghel, 62, the foremost leader of the party in the state, is a Kurmi which is an influential OBC community, and a sitting MLA.

A six-term MLA, he had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections from Raipur in 2009 and from Durg in 2004.

Tamradhwaj Sahu and Shivkumar Dahariya served as ministers in the previous Baghel-led state government. But both lost the last assembly polls.

Tamradhwaj Sahu will contest from Mahasamund, which is dominated by the numerically strong Sahu community. A four-term MLA, Sahu was elected to the Lok Sabha from Durg seat in 2014.

Dahariya, an influential SC leader, will contest from Janjgir-Champa, reserved for SC candidates. He had been an MLA thrice.

Vikas Upadhyay, a Brahmin who has been fielded from Raipur, was elected as an MLA for the first time in 2018 but lost from Raipur City West assembly seat in 2023.

Jyotsana Mahant, a sitting MP, will contest from her present Korba constituency. She is married to senior Congress leader and former Union minister Charan Das Mahant, who is now the leader of opposition in the state assembly.

Rajendra Sahu, who will contest from Durg, is a fresh face.

The BJP has announced candidates for all 11 Lok Sabha seats. In the 2019 general elections, the BJP had won nine out of 11 seats in the state.