Congress, BJP candidates among 12 file nominations for Bastar Lok Sabha seat

Similarly Congress nominee Kawasi Lakhma, an incumbent MLA, accompanied by former CM Bhupesh Baghel and partys state unit head Deepak Baij, submitted his papers on the last day.Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4.

As many as 12 candidates, including those from the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, have filed their nominations for the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency in Chhattisgarh where polling will be held in the first phase on April 19.

Wednesday was the last day for filing nominations for the first phase of polls. The papers will be scrutinised on Thursday and the last date for withdrawal is March 30.

Twelve candidates have filed their nominations for the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, an official of the state Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office said.

Some of the candidates who had already filed their nominations, submitted a second set of papers on Wednesday, he said.

BJP candidate Mahesh Kashyap, accompanied by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and party's state unit president Kiran Dev, filed his nomination papers on Wednesday. Similarly Congress nominee Kawasi Lakhma, an incumbent MLA, accompanied by former CM Bhupesh Baghel and party's state unit head Deepak Baij, submitted his papers on the last day.

Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4. Bastar is the only constituency in the state where polling will be held on April 19.

BJP's Kashyap, a fresh face, had been an active member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the past. Congress candidate Lakhma, a six-term MLA, had served as a minister in the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government.

Three Lok Sabha constituencies -- Mahasamund, Kanker and Rajnandgaon -- will go to polls in the second phase, for which a notification will be issued on March 28.

The remaining seven seats in the state -- Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Raigarh (ST), Korba, Janjgir-Champa (SC) and Surguja (ST) - will vote on May 7.

Both Congress and the BJP have declared their candidates for all the 11 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP had won 10 seats three times - 2004, 2009, and 2014. In 2019, the BJP won 9 of the 11 seats.

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