BSP releases second list of 17 candidates for Chhattisgarh assembly polls

Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has released a second list of 17 candidates for the next month's Chhattisgarh assembly elections, taking the tally so far to 26, a party functionary said on Tuesday. Polling for 90 seats will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.

The BSP is contesting the elections in alliance with the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP). As per the seat-sharing pact, the BSP and the GGP will contest 53 and 37 seats, respectively.

"On the direction of BSP chief Mayawati, a second list of 17 candidates, including a woman, has been released. With this, the party has so far declared candidates for 26 seats," BSP's Madhya Pradesh unit president, Hemant Poyam, told PTI.


Among these 17 constituencies, nine are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and three for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

The BSP had released its first list of nine candidates in August, weeks before the poll schedule was declared by the Election Commission.

As per the list, the candidates are Narendra Sahu (Bhatgaon seat), Innocent Kujur (Pathalgaon- ST), Narayan Ratnakar (Sarangarh - SC), Satyawati Rathiya (Dharamjaigarh-ST), Jagatram Rathiya (Rampur- ST), Jainarayan Kishore (Saraipali - SC), Sufal Sahu (Khallari), Lalchand Patel (Kurud), Chaitram Raj (Pandariya), Bahadur Kurre (Dongargarh-SC), Jalam Singh Jurri (Bhanupratappur-ST), Dinesh Kumar Markam (Keshkal-ST), Girdhar Netam (Kondagaon-ST), Ramdhar Baghel (Bastar-ST), Sampat Kashyap (Jagdalpur), Ajay Kudiyam (Bijapur -ST) and Masa Madkami (Konta).

The BSP polled 4.27 per cent votes and won two seats- Jaijaipur and Pamgarh- in the 2018 elections which it contested in alliance with the Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the CPI.

While the JCC (J) had bagged five seats, GGP candidates lost their poll deposit in 36 out of the 38 seats the party had contested.

The Mayawati-led party wields considerable influence among the Scheduled Caste population in central Chhattisgarh, while the GGP once had a support base in certain tribal-dominated parts of Bilaspur and Surguja divisions.