Comments
If politics was simply about arithmetic then former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi’s bid to play king a la HD Kumaraswamy in Karnataka would have been a plausible scenario in Chhattisgarh, where the BJP won in 2013 with just a 0.71 per cent higher vote share than the Congress.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a component of Ajit Jogi’s third front, secured 4.27 per cent of the votes in Chhattisgarh last time while the CPI, which is also part of the alliance, secured 0.66 per cent. Given the math and that the catchment area of the third front is largely also the support base of the Congress, the obvious conclusion is that Jogi will hurt the Congress’s prospects this time.
But politics being not just about numbers, the granular details of this election reveal that Jogi is likely to damage both the BJP and the Congress.
Third force
As head of the newly-formed third force with the BSP and the CPI in Chhattisgarh which comprises the Scheduled Caste (SC) voters as his catchment, Jogi’s potential to harm the BJP can not be underestimated. Besides the BSP’s SC vote, Jogi’s own support base is largely concentrated among the Satnami community in the SC category.
In this context, it is significant that of the ten reserved seats for the SCs, the BJPwon nine in2013. The Congress baggedonly one seat, Masturi, from where the principal opposition party has once again fielded the sitting MLA Dilip Laharia.
In some areas such as the Janjgir Champa district, the BJP faced rebellion from leaders like Vyas Kashyap who has deserted the ruling party and joined hands with the BSP. The seat is presently held by the Congress and Vyas’s presence as the third force does nothing to brighten the ruling party’s prospects in this seat.
Jogi and the BSP are largely influential in Bilaspur, Janjgir Champa and parts of Korba district where the BJP secured majority of its seats. In Lormi in Bilaspur district, where the BJP’s Tokhan Sahuwon in 2013, the presence of a strong candidate like Dharamjit Singh from the third force is a challenge to the sitting MLA.
Lastly, the Congress is relieved that Jogi’s potential to sabotage the party from inside has been contained by his coming out as the third force.
“He damaged the Congress. We are very happy that he has been cut lose. We will not be sabotaged this time,” said Congress Legislature Party leader TS Singh Deo.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.