Key Candidates

Deepak Baij is Congress candidate from Chitrakoot assembly seat, which is one of the 12 tribal-dominated seats in Naxal-affected Bastar division. Baij is the MP of Bastar too and was made PCC chief this year. Baij is known to be close to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.

Kawasi Lakhma is the Congress candidate from Maoist-affected Sukma assembly seat. Lakhma is a five-term MLA and one of the senior-most leaders in the PCC in Chhattisgarh. He currently holds the position of excise minister. In 2013, Lakhma was accompanying Mahendra Karma when Naxals attacked them. Lakhma survived but Karma was killed in the incident.

Amit Jogi is the son of Chhattisgarh’s first chief minister Ajit Jogi, who was also in Congress and later floated his own party Janta Congress Chhattisgarh in 2016. Patan, which is dominated by OBCs, will see three political bigwigs of the state fighting --- Bhupesh Baghel of Congress, Vijay Baghel of BJP and Amit Jogi of Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J).

The Congress has fielded Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo from Ambikapur, a tribal-dominated seat in north Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district. Belonging to an erstwhile royal family, Singhdeo has been a constant winner on this seat. He has been a three-term MLA and was made deputy chief minister in 2018.

Chhabindra Karma is the Congress candidate in Maoist-affected Dantewada constituency. Chhabindra is the son of former cabinet minister Mahendra Karma, who was killed in a Naxal attack in 2013. Mahendra Karma is also believed to be the leader who spearheaded the Salwa Judum movement in Bastar.

Of the 23 years of Chhattisgarh achieving statehood, Raman Singh ruled the state as the chief minister for 15 years. Singh, a senior BJP leader, is now 71 and is fighting polls from his old constituency Rajnandgaon. Singh first became a BJP MLA in 1990 in undivided Madhya Pradesh. Later, he also became an MP and held the position of a central minister.

Baghel, a five-term MLA from Patan, is the current chief minister of the state. He is one of the rare chief ministers of India who has designed his political and administrative policies balancing caste and religion equations. The chief minister is also known for his generous cash doles, which include the highest paddy procurement price, financial assistance scheme for women and loan waivers for farmers and self-help groups.

Bhawna Bohra has been fielded by the BJP from the Pandariya seat. Bohra is popularly known as 'Ambulance Wali Didi' for her work in the heath sector. She is the chairperson of the district council of Kabirdham and a senior member of BJP's Mahila Morcha.

Vijay Baghel is known as ‘Bhatija’ Baghel in the region as Bhupesh Baghel is his uncle. Vijay Baghel is the BJP MP from Durg Lok Sabha constituency under which Patel assembly segment falls. He has been pitted against the chief minister by the BJP. Vijay Baghel defeated Bhupesh Baghel in this seat in 2008. He was with the Congress until 2000 and later joined BJP.