Chhattisgarh: BJP fields ex-MLA Bramhanand Netam for Bhanupratappur bypoll

He is presently vice president of the state BJPs Scheduled Tribe wing.In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJPs Devlal Dugga had lost the Bhanupratappur seat to Congresss Mandavi by a margin of 26,693 votes.The last day of filing the nominations for the bypoll is November 17.

The opposition BJP on Tuesday announced Bramhanand Netam as its candidate for the December 5 bypoll to Bhanupratappur Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh which fell vacant after the death of sitting Congress MLA and state Assembly's Deputy Speaker Manoj Singh Mandavi.

The BJP's central election committee has approved the candidature of Netam, a former party legislator, for the Bhanupratappur byelection, state party chief Arun Sao said.

“We are confident that we will be blessed with victory by the people of Bhanupratappur,'' Sao said exuding confidence of winning the bypoll. Netam (49) had represented Bhanupratappur seat, reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates, in Kanker district of Maoist-hit Bastar division, as legislator from 2008 to 2013. He is presently vice president of the state BJP's Scheduled Tribe wing.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP's Devlal Dugga had lost the Bhanupratappur seat to Congress's Mandavi by a margin of 26,693 votes.

The last day of filing the nominations for the bypoll is November 17. Polling will be held on December 5 and votes will be counted on December 8.

Mandavi (58), who represented Bhanupratappur seat three times, died on October 16 following a heart attack.

He was first elected as a legislator in 1998 in the then undivided Madhya Pradesh.

A prominent tribal face of the party in north Bastar region, Mandavi had served as the minister of state for home and prisons during the Ajit Jogi-led Congress government in the state between 2000 and 2003.

In the 2018 Assembly poll, the Congress had registered a landslide victory by securing 68 seats out of the total 90 in the state while the BJP won 15. The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested the poll in coalition and bagged five and two seats respectively.

Later, the ruling Congress managed to win the by-elections held in four Assembly seats of the state, taking its tally to 71, while the BJP's strength reduced to 14.

At present, the JCC(J) and the BSP have three and two members, respectively, in the Assembly.