Jogi's alliance with BSP will hurt Congress in Chhattisgarh: BJP leader Saroj Pandey

BJP general secretary Saroj Pandey on Tuesday claimed that the alliance between Ajit Jogi's party and the BSP will hurt the Congress more in Chhattisgarh as she asserted that her party will return to power for a fourth straight term in the state.

Pandey, a Rajya Sabha member and a key party leader from the state, also said that the opposition Congress is on the back foot due to the alleged involvement of its state president Bhupesh Baghel in a fake sex CD case, which she termed as an insult to the state's women.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had last month filed a charge sheet in the case naming Baghel and some others as accused in the case related to the controversial CD allegedly featuring a state minister, who had rejected it as fake.

The Congress leader was released on bail after spending three days in judicial custody last month.

The BJP has used the issue to target the Congress, while Baghel has claimed innocence and termed it as a political attack.

The state president of a political party should have applied his mind to decide what is in the interest of a state and what is not before putting out such content, Pandey said, dismissing his claim that he was not aware of its authenticity.

"We are in a very strong position in Chhattisgarh. We will form the government for a fourth straight term," she said, adding that the BJP will achieve its president Amit Shah's target of winning 65 plus seats in the 90-member assembly.

The state will go to the polls in two phases on November 12 and 20.

Though Chhattisgarh has always seen a straight fight between the two national parties, the emergence of former chief minister Ajit Jogi-led Janta Congress Chhattisgarh has made things tricky in a state where the difference in vote share between the BJP and the Congress was less than one per cent in 2013.

Jogi, who was earlier in the Congress, has struck an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party, which enjoys influence in some parts of the state.

Asked about the possible impact of the alliance, Pandey said influence of any party cannot be discounted in electoral politics but added that Jogi will definitely draw votes from the party he was associated with, a reference to Congress.

Overall, the alliance will not be able to make much impact, she said.

The state government led by Chief Minister Raman Singh has done a lot of good work in different sectors in the last 15 years, she said, adding that "pro-people" schemes of the Narendra Modi dispensation will also help the party.

The BJP will see positive change in the tribal-dominated Bastar region, where it could win only four seats compared to eight of the Congress in 2013, she said.

The Naxal-hit region will go to the polls in the first phase on November 12.

In 2013, the BJP had formed the government for third straight term by winning 49 seats against 39 of the Congress but the opposition party succeeded in narrowing the gap. It had grabbed 40.3 per cent of votes while the saffron party cornered 41 per cent of votes.

Singh has been at the helm since 2003.