Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Former Chattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi has declared that he will contest upcoming state assembly elections from Rajnandgaon or any other seat incumbent CM Raman Singh decides to fight from.

Jogi, president of Janata Congress Chattisgarh (JCC), said he will personally pit himself against Raman Singh and will officially announce his decision during a rally in Singh’s constituency Rajnandgaon this month.

The former CM said he wants to contest against Singh because BJP had tried to “politically murder” him during its 14 year rule in the state. “He (Raman Singh) has tried to destroy me and my family politically. He filed fake cases against my son, which the court rejected,” said Jogi in a video released by his party.

Jogi has been involved in a long legal battle with BJP since 2016 following a high-powered government committee report claiming Jogi is not a member of the Scheduled Tribe community. The Chattisgarh High Court had provided some relief to Jogi over this issue by asking the government to reconstitute the committee probing the matter.

Jogi has also not been at good terms with Congress ever since the party suspended him and his son for six years over questions of his alleged role in fixing a by-election. Jogi and his MLA son Amit Jogi quit Congress after that and formed their own party, JCC.

The 90-seat Chattisgarh assembly will go to polls this year, although dates for elections have not been announced yet.

By dhruv