Chhattisgarh polls: Mallikarjun Kharge approves constitution of committees

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday approved the constitution of committees for the upcoming Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh.

The committees include an election campaign committee, core committee, communications committee, and protocol committee.

A party statement said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for the constitution of these committees with immediate effect.

The seven-member core committee, headed by Kumari Selja, includes Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, President of Chhattisgarh Congress Deepak Baij, Deputy CM T S Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu, and Shiv Kumar Sahariya.

According to the communique issued by Congress General Secretary in-charge Organisation KC Venugopal, the election campaign committee will be headed by Charan Dass Mahant. The 74-member committee includes CM Baghel, Deputy CM Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Ravinder Chaubey, Mohd Akbar, Shiv Kumar Dahariya, Kawaki Lakhma, Premsai Singh Tekam, and Anila Bhendiya.

Chhattisgarh ministers Mohan Markam and Umesh Patel, Rajya Sabha members Rajeev Shukla, Ranjeet Ranjan, Phulo Devi Netam, and K T S Tulsi are also part of the election campaign committee.

Ravindra Choubey has been appointed as the chairperson, and Rajesh Tiwari and Vinod Verma as conveners, while Sushil Anand Shukla will be the coordinator of the communications committee.

The party also set up a 25-member protocol committee with Amarjeet Bhagat as its chairperson, Shiv Singh Thakur as its convener, and Ajay Sahu as coordinator.

Two parivartan yatras by the BJP

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state is set to organise two "parivartan yatras" on September 12 and September 16. The yatras will cover 87 Assembly constituencies across a distance of 2,989 km.

The first yatra will last for 16 days and will be flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Maa Danteshwari Temple in Dantewada district on September 12 during a public rally. The 16-day yatra will cover a distance of 1,728 km across 21 districts. Both "parivartan yatras" will culminate at Bilaspur on September 28.

BJP state president Arun Sao said, "With a commitment to change, the BJP is going to organise parivartan yatras in the state."