Himanshu Kapoor
In Chhattisgarh, which elects 11 Lok Sabha members, came into existence in the year 2000 though the demand for a separate state can be traced as early as 1920s. Since its creation, the politics of Chhattisgarh has been mainly a field for major political parties like The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The ruling BJP, which is riding high on the Narendra Modi wave, hopes to take maximum advantage of the fierce infighting within the state Congress unit over ticket distribution. After the deadly Maoist attack, which nearly wiped most of its frontline leadership in the state, the Congress is seriously grappling with a leadership vacuum as there are number of claimants to lead the party.
For the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP leadership in the state has decided to point its guns against the faulty central government policies. Subhash Rao, the BJP`s political strategist, is expecting the "Modi wave" to work in the state, which will help the party bag all the eleven seats, however some surveys have predicted that the BJP`s tally will reduce to eight, whereas Congress, which had won only one seat in 2009 LS polls, is predicted to improve its tally by adding two more seats to its kitty.
While the confident BJP is trying to win over the tribals, one of the most important strategies of the INC in Chhattisgarh is to better the prospects among Scheduled Castes and Dalits. As per studies, the BSP has lost 1.8 percent of Dalit vote, and most of this chunk has gone to the BJP. Despite the threats posed by the Maoists, Motilal Vora of the INC has said in Raipur, on record, that the ultra-left cadres will be treated with complete sympathy if they shed violence and join the mainstream.
In the first General Elections in 2004 held after the creation of the state, people had opted for the Congress. In the 2009 LS polls, however, Chhattisgarh`s voters switched their allegiance to the BJP. In the BJP bastion of Chhattisgarh where Raman Singh was firmly in saddle, the saffron party won an impressive 10 of the 11 seats with Congress getting the remaining one that year.
Out of Chhattisgarh`s 11 Parliamentary Constituencies, four (Raigarh, Kanker, Surguja, and Bastar) are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and two (Bilaspur and Sarangarh) for Scheduled Castes. The 16th General(Lok Sabha) elections in the state will be conducted in three starting from April 10, 2014.
With direct battle in the 16th Lok Sabha polls again is between the Congress and the BJP in the state, the recent assembly elections results will be of significance as the BJP emerged as a clear winner. While the BJP won 49 seats out of the 90 Assembly seats in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha, the Congress won 39 seats and the remaining 2 seats were won by other political parties.
Now, going to polls fresh off a victory and already prediction of staying in the lead, the BJP chances of bagging majority of seats in Chhattisgarh are certain despite some pre-poll surveys stating that Congress might increase its tally in the state. As for Congress, whose almost entire leadership was wiped out in a Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh, an impressive performance is not likely.
