Raipur, Oct 15
The growing internal party revolt by several party leaders is set to raise alarm bells for both the ruling Congress and Opposition BJP ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections to be held in poll-bound Chhattisgarh.
The challenge for BJP is to control the growing resentment among several party leaders denied tickets after the announcement of 85 candidates, while that for the Congress will be to suppress the discord within their party fold after the announcement of potential candidates. It is expected that the path to victory will be easy for that party which keeps their disgruntled leaders under check.
There is a direct political fight between Congress and BJP in Chhattisgarh. While Congress is fighting the upcoming state Assembly polls entirely on the achievements of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel-led government during the last five years, the BJP is busy highlighting the failures of the Congress government and the achievements of the Modi government.
Voting is to be held in the poll-bound state in two phases on November 7 and November 17.
BJP has announced the names of candidates for 85 out of 90 Assembly seats in the state, however the names of only five candidates are yet to be declared. On the other hand, Congress is yet to announce their poll candidate list till now.
Chief Minister Baghel has announced that the first list of candidates is likely to be announced on October 15.
BJP has fielded a Union Minister, including four MPs, in the upcoming elections and has denied tickets to several probable candidates. Due to which there is an internal party revolt but no leader is openly opposing the saffron party's decision.
The party fears that disgruntled leaders who have been denied tickets during the upcoming elections may hinder its chances of winning, therefore it is trying to convince such leaders who are unhappy with the ticket distribution. There are reports of resentment among BJP leaders from about a dozen seats in the state.
On one hand, discord is brewing within the BJP, while on the other hand, Congress is making all-out efforts to stop the growing discontentment after the announcement of candidates for the upcoming state polls. This is because there is a lot of talk about the cancellation of tickets of about two dozen Congress MLAs. According to party sources, the grand old party has shunted those MLAs which have been opposed by the people of their Assembly constituency which has added fuel to fire with talks of internal rebellion within the party ranks.
Political analysts believe that both Congress and BJP are confident of winning the state elections. This is the reason why both the parties are maintaining caution on the issue of candidate selection, while the disgruntled leaders from either parties also feel that if they are denied tickets then they would fulfill their political ambitions by joining another party.
After the release of list of candidates, the possibility of MLAs switching parties has gained momentum. Despite this, the path to victory will be easier for the party that is able to quell internal party rebellion within its ranks.
