Chitrakot assembly bypoll: Cong, BJP candidates file papers

Congress and BJP candidates were among nine contestants who on Monday filed their nomination papers from Chhattisgarh's Chitrakot assembly seat where by-election will be held on October 21.

The bypoll in the Naxal-affected seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) community, was necessitated after sitting Congress MLA Deepak Baij was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bastar constituency.

The constituency is located in the Bastar division.

Nine candidates filed their nominations for the bypoll on Monday, the last day for doing so, a poll official here said.

These included Rajman Benzam of the Congress and BJP's Lachhuram Kashyap, a former MLA.

Scrutiny of nominations forms will be held on Tuesday, while candidates can withdraw their names from the fray till October 3, he said.

Polling will be held on October 21 and counting of votes will be taken up on October 24, the official added.

The ruling Congress has put its faith in Benzam, a prominent tribal leader and president of Bastar District Congress (rural), whose main rival will be the BJP's Kashyap.

Kashyap had lost to Congresss Baij in the 2018 Assembly polls from Chitrakot by a margin of 17,770 votes.

Benzam was accompanied by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and other senior party leaders during the filing of his nomination.

In the just held bypoll in the Dantewada assembly seat, Congress candidate Devti Karma had won by defeating the BJP's Ojaswi Mandavi by a margin of 11,192 votes.

In the 90-member assembly, the Congress had won 68 seats last year and the BJP 15.

The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), founded by former chief minister Ajit Jogi, and the Mayawati-led BSP had bagged five and two seats, respectively.