Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi will not contest the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, his son Amit Jogi said on Friday. Instead, he will focus on campaigning for his alliance partners, reported the Hindustan Times.

Ajit Jogi’s Chhattisgarh Janata Congress has tied up with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samj Party for the Assembly elections in the state. Earlier this week, the Communist Party of India also joined the alliance. The Communist Party of India is expected to improve the alliance’s chances in the Bastar region and in areas where a large number of voters are labourers, Ajit Jogi had said.

The grand alliance decided that Ajit Jogi will not contest. “He will concentrate on the whole state and will campaign for all the candidates instead of fighting elections himself,” said Amit Jogi. “The aim is to strengthen the party campaign and form the government in Chhattisgarh.” The state will vote on November 12 and November 20, and the result will be declared on December 11.

Amit Jogi said that his father would have found it difficult to concentrate on his own constituency as he would be required to campaign all over the state, ANI reported.

Earlier, Ajit Jogi had announced that he will fight from Rajanandgaon seat against Chief Minister Raman Singh. The party has not yet decided who will replace Ajit Jogi.