The by-poll for the Antagarh assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district has triggered a war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata party and the Congress.
The Congress submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission on Monday demanding that the by-poll, due to be held on Saturday, be cancelled as police and other state agencies were used to force their candidate Manturam Pawar, and ten other independent contestants, to withdraw their nominations.
However, Rasik Parmar, head of the Chhattisgarh BJP media cell, said the state Congress unit was riven by factionalism and it was because of these internal battles that its candidate withdrew from the fray.
Parmar claims that Manturam Pawar is close to former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, and that Jogi is involved in a power struggle with the party hierarchy in Chattisgarh. Parmar says it was at Jogi’s behest that Pawar refused to contest this election. He said Pawar even gave a press conference stating that he had never wanted to contest the by-poll and that the Congress had put forward his name without consulting him.
Parmar added that there was no truth in the allegation that independent candidates were forcibly rounded up from a Congress leader’s house and forced to withdraw their nomination papers.
Baseless charges
Ramesh Bains, BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Raipur, said he made enquiries and had also found that the Congress charge about the independent candidates was baseless.
“The BJP is well aware that candidates cannot be forced to leave the electoral field,” Bains said. “After all, this is a democracy.” Bains maintained the BJP candidate Bhojraj Naag was well placed to win the by-poll and that the party did not have to resort to such desperate means. “There is no question of any foul play,” he said.
The by-election is being held in Antagarh constituency because the sitting MLA, Vikram Usendi, won the Lok Sabha seat from Kanker. Usendi has defeated the Manturam Pawar, representing the Congress, twice in the past.
Counter accusations
Yet the Congress is adamant that the election result was not a foregone conclusion. The party’s general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh, BK Hariprasad, claimed the controversy in Antagarh was actually the result of infighting in the BJP state unit.
According to Hariprasad, Usendi wanted his wife to be fielded from his old assembly constituency, but the BJP named Bhojraj Naag instead.
“The chief minister feared internal sabotage in the by-poll,” he said. “There was a real possibility of the BJP losing. So he resorted to desperate means.”
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The Congress submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission on Monday demanding that the by-poll, due to be held on Saturday, be cancelled as police and other state agencies were used to force their candidate Manturam Pawar, and ten other independent contestants, to withdraw their nominations.
However, Rasik Parmar, head of the Chhattisgarh BJP media cell, said the state Congress unit was riven by factionalism and it was because of these internal battles that its candidate withdrew from the fray.
Parmar claims that Manturam Pawar is close to former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, and that Jogi is involved in a power struggle with the party hierarchy in Chattisgarh. Parmar says it was at Jogi’s behest that Pawar refused to contest this election. He said Pawar even gave a press conference stating that he had never wanted to contest the by-poll and that the Congress had put forward his name without consulting him.
Parmar added that there was no truth in the allegation that independent candidates were forcibly rounded up from a Congress leader’s house and forced to withdraw their nomination papers.
Baseless charges
Ramesh Bains, BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Raipur, said he made enquiries and had also found that the Congress charge about the independent candidates was baseless.
“The BJP is well aware that candidates cannot be forced to leave the electoral field,” Bains said. “After all, this is a democracy.” Bains maintained the BJP candidate Bhojraj Naag was well placed to win the by-poll and that the party did not have to resort to such desperate means. “There is no question of any foul play,” he said.
The by-election is being held in Antagarh constituency because the sitting MLA, Vikram Usendi, won the Lok Sabha seat from Kanker. Usendi has defeated the Manturam Pawar, representing the Congress, twice in the past.
Counter accusations
Yet the Congress is adamant that the election result was not a foregone conclusion. The party’s general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh, BK Hariprasad, claimed the controversy in Antagarh was actually the result of infighting in the BJP state unit.
According to Hariprasad, Usendi wanted his wife to be fielded from his old assembly constituency, but the BJP named Bhojraj Naag instead.
“The chief minister feared internal sabotage in the by-poll,” he said. “There was a real possibility of the BJP losing. So he resorted to desperate means.”