The young member of the Bastar Royal family "Maharaja" Kamalchandra Bhanjdeo joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in a crucial political development in Chhattisgarh.
The Bastar Royal family that had a considerable sway in the area that had been infested with Naxal activities would be entering politics after nearly five and a half decades. In 1957, his grandfather contested the election from Bastar as Independent candidate in protest against the merger of princely states and won by a thumping margin.
Both BJP and the Congress were in parley with Kamalchandra for inducting him in the party. Even the third front led by the Communists had also made vain attempt to seek his support to end the BJP-Congress binary from the state politics.
Finally, Kamalchandra preferred to join the BJP that had been eyeing a hat-trick in power by winning the November state polls. Bastar with 12 assembly seats plays an important role in deciding the fate of any political party. In the last election, BJP had won 11 out of 12 seats.
