Chhattisgarh polls: Congress releases list of 12 candidates

The Congress on Thursday released its first list of 12 candidates for the Chhattisgarh assembly elections.

Eleven of the 12 candidates announced are in seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The party has fielded seven sitting legislators and five fresh faces for the 12 of the 18 seats that go to the polls for the first phase on November 12.

The first phase of polling is spread across Maoist-affected districts of Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon.

The party has fielded Lakheshwar Baghel from Bastar, Rekhchand Jain from Jagdalpur, Devati Karma from Dantewada. Shishu Pal Sori from Kanker, Vikram Shah Mandavi from Bijapur, Mohan Lal Markam from Kondagaon, Anoop Nag from Antagarh, Manoj Singh Mandavi from Bhanupratappur, Santram Netam from Keshkal, Chandan Kashyap from Narayanpur, Deepak Kumar Baij from Chitrakot and Kawasi Lakhma from Konta.

The party has also released a list of 40 star campaigners for the first phase that includes Congress president Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and cricketer-turned-politician Mohammad Azharuddin.

Elections for the 90-member assembly will be held in two phases -- November 12 and November 20. The results will be declared on December 11.

--IANS

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