Raman Singh files nomination from Rajnandgaon constituency

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday filed his nomination from Rajnandgaon constituency for the upcoming state Assembly polls.

Singh submitted his nomination papers to collector and district magistrate Bhim Singh's office in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other officials.

In 1999, the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister had made his debut in Lok Sabha from Rajnandgaon parliamentary constituency. He defeated veteran Congress leader Motilal Vohra and was appointed the Minister of State for Commerce and Industries in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, and held charge of the ministry till he was chosen as the Chhattisgarh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president.

Singh took oath as the second chief minister of Chhattisgarh on December 7, 2003. After being elected to the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, he took oath as the chief minister of the state on December 12, 2008, for a second term, and was re-elected for a third term on December 8, 2013.

On Saturday, the BJP released a list of candidates contesting in the upcoming assembly elections in the state and announced the names of candidates for 77 seats out of 90 in the state.

Among the 77 candidates contesting in the state, 14 candidates are women, while 25 candidates come under the age group of 40. There are 29 candidates from the Schedule Tribes category and 10 from the Schedule Castes category. A total of 53 candidates are from farming background, three are professionals and one is a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official.

The state will go to polls in two phases on November 12 and 20. Counting of votes will take place on December 11.