Three Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh go to polls tomorrow

Three high-profile parliamentary seats of Mahasamund, Rajnandgaon and Kanker, plagued with naxal menace, will be going to polls tomorrow in Chhattisgarh.
Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, son of Chief Minister Raman Singh, Abhishek and former minister and incumbent MLA Vikram Usendi are set for a big fight on these seats.
Over 45 lakh voters in these naxal-affected seats will decide the fate of 50 candidates, including five women who are in the fray for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in the tribal dominated state.
The maximum number of candidates have been fielded from Mahasamund (27) followed by Rajnandgaon (13) and Kanker (10).

The clash for Mahasamund seat has hogged the limelight as Congress veteran Ajit Jogi, who had decided to take a break from politics, was made the party nominee.
The move even surprised a section of Congress workers who were expecting that party would field daughter of late Union Minister Vidyacharan Shukla from this seat.

The Congress veteran was killed in May 25 Jiram valley naxal attack in Darbha region of Chhattisgarh last year.
Jogi is pitted against BJP's sitting MP Chandulal Sahu who is considered to have strong support among Other Backward Caste section largely inhibits in Mahasamund region.
In 2009 general polls, Chandulal had defeated Motilal Sahu of Congress from this seat by a margin of 51,475 votes.

However, Jogi had earlier won this seat in 2004 Lok Sabha against Vidyacharan Shukla who had then contested election on BJP ticket.
Interestingly, there are 10 candidates having similar name to that of BJP candidate Chandulal Sahu, seven Chandulals and three Chandurams but all have same surname -- Sahu, are contesting from Mahasamund Lok Sabha seat.
The ruling BJP in the state has accused Jogi of fielding these candidates with same names to confuse the voters.
Rajnandgaon seat too will witness a fierce battle which will determine the political fortune of Chhattisgarh CM's son Abhishek Singh who is making his debut into electoral politics.